How To Deal With Homelessness In Canada

Montreal homelessness is a serious issue. It is easy to notice the extent of the problem only by walking in the streets, and unfortunately not just in the poor ones.

Gaetz, S., Dej, E., Richter, T., & Redman, M. (2016). The state of homelessness in Canada 2016. Toronto, Canada: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness Press.

It is time, at last, to speak the truth about my community. As an 18 year old living in Ottawa, the Nation’s Capital, I have had many feelings regarding the homeless and the poor living within my community. The homeless and the poor require much needed assistance, as their situation is miserable. Being given the power to make changes, I think this issue would be the first priority. As a member of my community, Ottawa, I must aim for a positive change. The change could be in housing, food services, and health.

According to recent research, homelessness affects between 150,000 and 300,000 Canadians a year (Cherner et al. 2017, 219; Gandermann et al. 2014, 341; Piat et al. 2015, 2367). This increase in homelessness began in the 1980’s following economic changes as well as shifts in government policy that lead to a reduction in supports for low-income families as well as a decrease in affordable housing available across Canada (Gaetz 2010, 21; Piat et al. 2015, 2367). Though proving a national problem, a concrete solution for homelessness does not exist, making it a wicked problem seemingly impossible to solve. Homelessness continues to present itself as a multifaceted

According to former NDP leader Jack Layton (Layton 2008: xix), the economic causes of youth homelessness can be summarized by stating that homelessness is an issue of both supply and affordability . Looking specifically at Atlantic Canada, affordable housing is a primary concern for those tacking homelessness. According to Layton, “In New Brunswick, where poverty is an issue, few new subsidized housing units have been built in the last 10 years, and there is no supportive housing. The poor condition of the existing housing stock contributes to youth

Imagine living paycheck to paycheck and having your house be taken away. It’s scary and now you have nowhere to live. It happens to many people, and sometimes, like in the case of the financial crisis, they end up living on the streets a lot longer than they anticipated. “Breaking the Cycle” by Sian Griffiths for New Internationalist discusses chronic homelessness and how the Housing First is helping. Housing First was created to lower the number of individuals living in chronic homelessness and they’ve been successful. Housing First gives homeless individuals permanent housing without any barriers or conditions like sobriety (Griffiths 16). Buying housing and allowing homeless people to move in doesn’t sound like a perfect idea, but the program has an eighty percent success rate which is higher than any other program (Griffiths 16 ). Since Housing First has been so successful in the United States, Canada decided to begin the program in their own country. Canada was experiencing exactly what the United States was a decrease in health care and social services cost. So, not only was this program successful for homeless people, but

Homelessness is a condition of people who lack regular access to adequate housing. As this condition becomes a growing problem in Canada people are forced to deal with the issues. Who are the homeless? They range from children to adults and even in some cases, families. Why are they homeless? Poverty, lack of jobs or well paying jobs, decline in Social Services, domestic violence, mental illness, and chemical dependency contribute to the majority of the homeless within our society. What effects does being homeless have on members of the family? It contributes to many physical and mental health problems for both parents and their children. Homelessness is a world-wide issue, yet zeroing in on Canada, the majority of the homeless live on the

This article (originally a speech) talks about how homelessness has been an issue in Canada in the past but is also an issue Canada faces today and how the future of homelessness in its society depends on the actions taken today. Specific information given in the article includes going back as far as 1960 with specific examples of how the Canadian government has been dealing with the issue through the ages. Giving direct quotes from government documents and speeches to statistics, it is divided to into three main categories: past, present, and future (and further going into sub categories from there). Relevant issues are discussed such as how some societal issues and global affairs affect the wealth of Canada and how this can turn into poverty.

b) Lack of supply- Along with the presence of higher demand in the housing market of the country already, the lack of supply of affordable housing in Canada has aggravated the crisis even more. Due to the presence of excess demand in the market, the quantities of housing, especially the private sector profit-maximizing ones have increased the price of their housing facilities, which in turn has contributed significantly to the already existing problems of homelessness in the country.

Evenson, J. (2009). Youth Homelessness In Canada: The Road To Solutions. Canada: Raising the Roof.

The amount of immigrants being homeless is growing at a high risk pace. Immigrants are more vulnerable to become homeless because they lack to obtain affordable housing. In Canada housing cost are rising in the owned and rental sectors. Meaning immigrants arriving at Canada can’t afford the high cost of housing. They are forced to migrate to other cities that have low housing cost to be able to afford housing, or live in adequate housing. The majority of immigrants except for business class immigrants arrive with sufficient income to be able to rent or buy a house. Refugees, may use shelters as a temporary, it is more difficult if they don’t have a sponsor to support them. Case studies in Canada show immigrants live in insecure housing where apartments or houses are run-down, dirty, worn out, as a consequence of

We need to ask our selves what causes homelessness, why are so many youth involved with homelessness and what can we change so that the homelessness problem in Canada lessens? Many people put the issue of homelessness aside because there are many programs that people can go to so that they can get help but not all people have the capability to push themselves to turn

When the kids arrived in Canada, they were sent to receiving homes. After that point the kids were referred to as home children. Each child was given 7 applications to try and find a farm where they could live. If they couldn’t find a farm to go to then they would be left on the road with a cardboard sign around their neck to find a farmer passing by to take them in. The farmers would have to pay and sign a contract to take the children in. The terms required that children were to be housed, fed, clothed, and sent to school. Older children would help with chores and extended labour for adolescents. At 18, the terms would be dropped and they would either stay with their guardians or find their own home. Most children didn’t make it this

Homelessness is defined as having no fixed place to sleep at night. This includes people staying in motels until their money runs out, those staying with friends, those staying in shelters, and those sleeping inside or out whatever space they can find to protect themselves. The number of homeless people has been growing and it has become a serious problem in our society. Every night in Canada there are thousands of people living on the streets. This type of behaviour is considered deviant because it does not reflect the norms and values of our society. In many cases the homeless people in our country are treated as total outcasts. Many of these people have severe mental disorders. Some are victims of an economy that has

A vast amount of studies have been conducted on homelessness in Canada and what the looks like in our society. How can we change this to become a mare successful ideas of help?The main topic that is going to try to be addressed is Homelessness and how help may be provided to those who are in need. The first thing that needs to be addressed is how displayed in the following articles and are they beneficial to our society. The ideas that the following article was written by Racine, G (2002) about the woman telling their experiences with help from society, while in poverty.Another source that is going to be dissected is an article written by Anucha, U (2010) addresses are going to address is it true that Homelessness is housed but not helped? The next article is written and will be examined is by Fallis G (2010) that is going to address to be on our current housing policy for those without a home. The next article is written by Walsh, C.Graham, J.Shier, M. (2009) and the main goal of that is what are the goals for a homeless shelter as a connective? One of the last articles I am going to be critically analyzing is an article written by Brushett, K Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario (2007) is one the people will go with the cuts to the housing policy. The final article that is going to be dissected written by Paul Morden; A story about College students holding a sleep out challenge held to spread awareness. The main