I thank the Office of the Auditor General for the performance audit of chronic homelessness in Canada. The report makes several important observations about our response to chronic homelessness, and we accept the recommendations.
Homelessness is a significant and complex challenge in Canada, and to address it we need better data and more coordination. When Reaching Home launched in 2019, it followed years of research and engagement with all orders of government and the homeless-serving sector, which pointed to the need for a new approach: an approach focused on transparency, coordination and evidence-based decision-making made at the local level to address their specific contexts.
This involved key transformations where communities are required to implement an international best practice called “coordinated access”, which requires, among other things, developing a real-time list of all people experiencing homelessness and details regarding their housing and service needs. In order for communities to successfully implement this significant change, new tools, practices and guidance and modernized systems were required. We knew that to make this data-driven approach possible, the homeless-serving sector would have to radically transform how it operates.
We were making good progress in helping our community partners adapt to this new way of working when the pandemic hit in March 2020, less than a year after the program was launched. The first year of the pandemic saw a substantive shift in shelter services as communities reduced capacity in existing shelters to enable physical distancing, while bringing new temporary facilities online to compensate. In all, 2020 saw a 16% drop in the number of people accessing shelters, while the number of shelter users experiencing chronic homelessness remained steady at approximately 32,000 people. Since then, communities have reported a 79% increase in the number of people sleeping outside, including in encampments.
Understandably, this change in priorities led to delays in implementing coordinated access and new systems to support results reporting.
During the first three years of the program, over half of the $1.36 billion provided—$708.6 million, to be exact—was aimed at helping communities to deal with the pandemic-related needs. Among other activities, communities used this funding for medical services such as hiring nurses for vaccination clinics in shelters, temporary accommodations such as placement in motels, PPE and help to provide basic services such as portable washrooms and handwashing stations to replace what was no longer available during lockdowns.
Despite needing to completely adapt their services to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, communities did not stop delivering long-term homelessness prevention and reduction services. Indeed, between April 2019 and March 2021, Reaching Home provided improved outcomes for 62,000 people who were prevented from becoming homeless, and nearly 32,000 people experiencing homelessness were helped to find housing.
The program also addressed some of the root causes of homelessness by connecting nearly 19,000 people to income assistance benefits, over 7,000 people to new paid employment, over 4,000 people to training programs and over 4,000 people to education programs.
Reaching Home improved outcomes for every person who accessed the 18,000 temporary accommodation spaces created when shelters had to reduce their capacity to ensure physical distancing. In fact, there were over 137,000 placements in these types of spaces between March 2020 and March 2021.
With regard to program delivery, as of November 25, a total of 33 communities out of 60 have implemented coordinated access, and we are working with the 27 remaining communities to have this program requirement in place by March 31, 2023.
Since 2019, the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness has reported that eight Reaching Home communities have achieved measurable and verified reductions in chronic homelessness. Key highlights include:
Medicine Hat, Alberta, has gone to functional zero; Guelph-Wellington County in Ontario has sustained a reduction between 10% and 30% of chronic homelessness; Ottawa, Ontario, has reduced chronic homelessness by 15%; Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, has reduced chronic homelessness by 31%; and Dufferin County in Ontario is on track to reach functional zero, having already reduced by 74% since 2019.
Work to sustain functional zero is an ongoing effort. Knowing that some communities still have steps to take, this past summer we issued additional guidance related to coordinated access implementation to clarify program requirements and enhance the ability of communities to determine where they should focus their efforts.
Going forward, the government has doubled funding for Reaching Home to continue to support these communities in reducing chronic homelessness, but we know that more is needed. That is why budget 2022 announced a research project to support learning about what works in certain communities and sharing those lessons with other communities. As well, a veterans homelessness program will soon be launched that will specifically address the needs of our veterans.
The audit report also rightly notes that most recent federal data available on emergency shelters is from 2019. The fact is that in order to continue having accurate estimates of national shelter use, it was necessary for the department to adjust its methodology in light of the creation of temporary shelter space in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was done, and the national shelter use estimates for 2020 are expected to be released by the end of this calendar year. Estimates for 2021 and 2022 are expected in 2023.
Finally, I would like to address the findings on accountability. I accept our role as a leader in Canada's efforts to reduce chronic homelessness. Chronic homelessness is complex and requires active participation from all levels of government, non-profit organizations and civil society.
A key partner for us in this work, as the audit shows, is the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, as it has several mechanisms to address housing needs in Canada under the national housing strategy umbrella. For this reason, we are developing a strategy to ensure that Reaching Home funding recipients are aware of these funding opportunities that could support their efforts to address homelessness.
Internally, we are also implementing formal mechanisms to improve the collaboration between officials, which we know will translate into an improved alignment of efforts, including within the broader portfolio of infrastructure.
We are committed to continuing our work with other departments and other governments and with the not-for-profit sector, to support the most vulnerable Canadians across the country.
I look forward to speaking further about the department's work and our commitment to Canadians and to answering your questions.
Thank you.
