In 2004, Quebec became the first Province to release a poverty reduction strategy. Since then every province has launched their own plan.
This section will review Quebec, Ontario, and BC’s houselessness
Quebec (2004, 2010): A plan “designed to meet the objectives of the Act to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion (2002), with the goal of having the lowest number of people in poverty among all industrialized nations by 2013. In 2010, Quebec launched plan 2, the Government Action Plan for Inclusion and Solidarity, which placed a higher value on work and protecting purchasing power. In 2017, the “Government Action Plan to Foster Inclusion and Social Participation aims to help 100,000 people out of poverty and establish a basic income for those with limited employ-ability (BC Poverty Reduction Coalition).
Poverty is one of the leading causes that drives people towards houselessness. Quebec’s focus on tackling poverty created preventative social safety nets that could weather economic crisis’.
The plan includes:
"We intend to consolidate shelters beyond the winter period for a period of 12 months, but we also want to accompany more people who are living in this situation toward autonomous living.” (Junior Health Minister Lionel Carmant)
Initiatives that are geared towards creating pathways for autonomous living are long-term solutions to houselessness.
<aside> ✉️ The plan will address Youth houselessness by providing rent subsidies and funding for education for young people.
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Critics have broken down how the funding will be distributed over the next five years, though it will create better resource options, Quebec will need to readdress their initiatives in the future.
<aside> ✉️ By-name lists keep track of people experiencing houselessness and their specific needs. By gathering lived experiences, the Ontario government can create policies from a bottom-up perspective.
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In partnership with the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) the Ontario government is creating educational tools for service managers to create the by-name lists and work with houseless people in an informed and ethical manner.
In 2021 the government announced $255 million worth of funding to tackling houselessness in the province. These funds will go:
The intention with this funding is to allow these groups to acquire shelter for houseless people, PPE equipment during pandemic surges, and hiring more staff.
This is a breakdown of how the government funds will be allocated.
In 2018, BC launched the first provincewide homeless-count report, finding that at least 7655 people were experiencing houselessness. 2223 of these individuals reside in Vancouver and Indigenous people are overrepresented in these statistics.
In 2019 BC launched their first poverty reduction strategy with the following funds allocation:
The Province has committed to build more than 4,700 new supportive homes over 10 years for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness throughout B.C, with 2,000 already completed.
<aside> ✉️ The Office of Homelessness Coordination works with the government and community partners to coordinate initiatives, create preventative policies, immediate response options, and stability, for long-term prevention. Additionally, they are developing plans for better mental health and addictions support.
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