Yellowknife - Community Plan To Address Homelessness 2001

Homelessness is an issue in every region of the globe.  The United Nations has addressed the human right to a safe home, but countries have been slow to act in providing for this basic human necessity.  Some countries, such as Finland, have legislated the right to housing, but have been unable to determine how to police such a right.  Other countries, such as Canada and the United States, have not been able to meet the demand for low-cost housing in the past few decades, resulting in increased numbers of persons without homes and persons at  risk of losing their homes.  1987 was declared the „International Year of Shelter for the Homeless‟ by the United Nations, and many of the activities that have taken place to combat homelessness at an international level are measured from the improvements  made from this point in time.  The results have not been impressive so far.  Many low-income people in Canada lack the resources to support even basic housing, despite the relative wealth and international economic standing of the country.  While homelessness has always existed in Canada, the last few decades have seen an increase in the breadth of the population affected by homelessness.  The number of families, youths and seniors that are homeless has increased.  Non-profit organizations such as the Salvation Army and Covenant House have been dealing with issues of homelessness for decades, but the 1980‟s and 1990‟s saw increased federal and provincial government focus in this area, including the following federal activities:

The National Housing Research Committee was established in 1986, to identify priority areas for housing-related research or demonstration, encourage greater co-operation, develop partnerships, minimise overlap in research activities, encourage support for housing research and promote dissemination, application and adoption of research results. One initiative of the Research Committee was the Discussion Group on Homelessness which was established in October, 1994. The main focus of the group was to discuss potential research initiatives, identify research priorities and explore potential partnerships. 

In March 1999, The Honourable Claudette Bradshaw was appointed the Federal Co-ordinator on Homelessness.  Throughout the summer of 1999, Minister Bradshaw visited communities across Canada to learn about the nature and extent of homelessness. The National Roundtable on Best 

Practices Addressing Homelessness, composed of fifty front-line workers and government staff from ten provinces and the Northwest Territories, met for two days in Ottawa in June 1999. Their purpose for coming together was to share their experiences, learn from each other about effective methods of addressing homelessness, and network with each other.   In the fall of 1999, the Federal Government prepared a report of the findings of Minister Bradshaw. 

In December 1999, the Government of Canada announced the Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative (SCPI). SCPI is a community-based partnership initiative intended to help alleviate and prevent absolute homelessness. Up to $305 million dollars would be provided to 5 assist communities in addressing homelessness.  SCPI was designed to provide flexible funding for the implementation of local strategies supported by community partners.  

Other initiatives offered federally as part of the package included enhanced funding of the at-risk component of the Youth Employment Strategy, the Urban Aboriginal Strategy, increased funding under the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program (RRAP) of the Canada Mortgage and 

Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Shelter Enhancement Initiative.  The federal government also committed $10 million to make surplus federal property available.

Publication Date: 
2001
Location: 
Yellowknife, NT, Canada