Although Edmonton has made strong progress against the targets of the original 10 Year Plan, some areas were not resourced to the level that the Plan required. For example, the original Plan called for 1,000 new units of permanent supportive housing, but only about 200 units have been added.

Today, we have a better understanding than ever before about the scope of homelessness in our community, and what is required to end it. This is a result of enhanced use of technology as well as years of implementation experience. Our ability to access and put data to use in decision-making today has changed dramatically since 2009.

To ensure our approach was grounded in best practices and responsive to changing needs, Homeward Trust and the City of Edmonton launched a collaborative process to review and update the Plan in 2017. More than 3,000 Edmontonians contributed to the Update, including community members, people with lived experience of homelessness, experts and frontline workers, orders of government and mainstream systems. Substantial evidence, experience, data and expertise were brought to bear to chart the course forward.

This Plan Update is a “living document” that sets priorities to 2020, while also defining high-level strategies to guide collective work long-term. The Plan will continue to be updated on an ongoing basis to reflect changes; progress will be assessed and reported on an annual basis. Ongoing evaluation and community engagement are essential to ensuring our approach remains relevant and effective.