Invest in Housing First to reduce homelessness.
What success looks like
Chronic homelessness is reduced by 50% by 2027-28 compared to 2016 levels.
Government's narrative on progress
On November 22, 2017 the government announced a 10-year, $40 billion National Housing Strategy that will help reduce homelessness and improve the availability and quality of housing for Canadians in need. This Strategy is part of a long-term vision to strengthen the middle class and provide affordable housing to Canadians, and lift more Canadians out of poverty. The strategy sets clear goals to remove 530,000 Canadians from housing need and reduce chronic homelessness, and to reduce chronic homelessness by half. As part of the National Housing Strategy, the government announced a total investment of $2.2 billion for homelessness over 10 years, building on Budget 2016 incremental funding of $111.8 million over two years (2016-2017 and 2017-2018) for the Homelessness Partnering Strategy. By 2021-22, this will nearly double the investments made in 2015-16. These increased investment levels are expected to reduce the number of Canadians who are chronically homeless by as much as 50% compared to 2016 levels. Over the past year, the Government of Canada consulted with stakeholders, provinces, territories and Indigenous partners on how to improve the Homelessness Partnering Strategy to better prevent and reduce homelessness across Canada. These consultations were guided by the work of an Advisory Committee comprised of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience of homelessness, chaired by the Parliamentary Secretary. The Advisory Committee on Homelessness Final Report and the Homelessness Partnering Strategy Engagement – What We Heard Report 2018, which contains highlights from the feedback received throughout all engagement activities, were released on May 18, 2018. On April 1, 2019, the Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development announced the launch of Reaching Home, a redesigned federal homelessness program, which replaces the Homelessness Partnering Strategy.
Note: this is the government's own description, not an independent assessment.