Evidence of meeting #114 for Status of Women in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was shelters.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director General, Community Development and Homelessness Partnerships Directorate, Department of Employment and Social Development
I think that the trends we are able to observe, based on the data that we receive, are fairly reliable, in terms of what's happening across the country.
Bow River, CPC
Good.
Ms. Buist, you talked about 41 shelters. That's the number you used.
Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
That's the number currently built.
Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
All are on reserve.
Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
That's what we fund at Indigenous Services, the operation of the shelter. CMHC funds the building of the shelters on reserve.
Bow River, CPC
To you, sir, when she mentions 41, are those ones that you have funded on reserve?
Senior Vice-President, Assisted Housing, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
I don't know all 41. We've been at it for a number of....
Senior Vice-President, Assisted Housing, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Yes, we fund both on and off reserve.
We spoke about the five that had been funded in the last two years. In the previous 10 years we've funded some renovation, and those are new construction. We've done some renovation and new construction in the previous number of years. We did about 317 units—beds—off reserve. Since 2011, under our normal programs up to June of 2018, we renovated or constructed about 4,800 units.
In terms of federal leveraging, we put about $60 million in. That leveraged about $38 million in provincial funding.
In budget 2016 we received about $90 million to invest. That built or renovated another 5,800. That's about 10,600 since 2011 up until June of 2018, for a sum of federal investments of $150 million.
Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
They have executive directors and staff who run them. We fund the operation of those.
Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
No, not necessarily.
October 15th, 2018 / 4:35 p.m.
Bow River, CPC
Who else would be managing them, if it isn't the band?
Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Staff are hired to run the shelter on reserve.
Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
It is an executive director, often.
Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
No, not usually. They're usually funded by the federal government for their salary, but they're run as a part of many services on a first nation, some through the band, some not. It varies.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
Thank you very much.
We're now going to pass it over to Sonia Sidhu. You have five minutes.
Sonia Sidhu Brampton South, Lib.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to all of the panellists for being here.
My question is to the Department of Employment and Social Development.
Violence against women and girls is a national issue. There's a gender lens on the policies now, which is a great start. Still, a gap exists for women and children when you talk about outreach workers, women's and families' needs and employment training.
When women flee from the house, what kind of social and economic support is out there, and is there employment training? Most probably at that time, women are under emotional stress. What kind of first-hand support is given to them?
Director General, Community Development and Homelessness Partnerships Directorate, Department of Employment and Social Development
In terms of the program I manage, the homelessness partnering strategy, it really is a community-based approach. Our funding goes directly to 61 communities across the country. Those communities determine their priorities and where their funding will be directed.
Under the current programming, a lot of that goes to the housing-first approach, which is about taking an individual and finding appropriate housing and giving them the wraparound supports they need to stay housed.
I talked about the renewal of the program. It's going to be called "Reaching Home” as we move into 2019. That program will give a lot more flexibility to communities. They will decide on the outcomes they want to achieve, and they'll report against those. It really is a locally based decision-making process from that perspective.