Mr. Chair, I am happy to be here today. I would like to acknowledge that I am speaking from the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin nation.
I want to thank the Auditor General and her team for highlighting the important issue of chronic homelessness in Canada.
I am joined by Nisa Tummon, assistant deputy minister of the program operations branch for Service Canada.
As you know, chronic homelessness is a pressing issue. Reaching Home is actually a $3.4-billion program, over nine years, under the national housing strategy. It supports Canada’s commitment to reduce chronic homelessness by 50% by the end of the fiscal year 2027-28.
In the fall of 2021, the Reaching Home program was transferred from Employment and Social Development Canada, or ESDC, to Infrastructure Canada to support the newly created position of Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion.
While accountability for Reaching Home was transferred, Service Canada continues to deliver a portion of the program on behalf of Infrastructure Canada. This was done to ensure continuity of service to communities and was codified through a memorandum of understanding between our departments.
ESDC, or Service Canada, has similar arrangements to deliver programs on behalf of other government departments. This means that we are still a bit involved in working particularly with funding recipients to ensure they provide the requisite information as outlined in their contribution agreements.
Thank you for your attention.
I would be happy to answer any questions you may have, including questions related to the role of Service Canada in service delivery for Reaching Home.