The Federal Housing Advocate is calling for long-term and predictable funding for municipalities to handle homelessness encampments in a way that respects human rights.
Marie Josee Hogue released her report recently after visiting four municipalities and speaking to those who live in the encampments.
The Unsheltered Homelessness and Encampments Initiative was created to help participating municipalities with resources to respond to encampments. In Ontario, the two-year initiative provided London, Hamilton, Toronto, and the Region of Waterloo with matched federal funds.
In addition to those living in encampments, Hogue also spoke with service providers, municipal and provincial leaders, who told her long-term funding was necessary to coordinate housing, healthcare, and other supports.
"The urgency of homelessness and encampment crisis that prompted the creation of the UHEI still exists, and, in most places, has deepened," said a release from Hogue's office."Without sustained federal leadership, municipalities are forced back into crisis-driven, enforcement-based approaches that violate human rights and waste public resources. Additional coordinated provincial and territorial investments, particularly in healthcare supports, are urgently needed."
Despite efforts by the four municipalities to integrate a human rights-based approach, Hogue remains concerned about the limited involvement of the people most directly impacted, those living in encampments, in plans, inadequate consultation with Indigenous Peoples, and reliance on enforcement and forced evictions.
"Communities across Canada are responding to escalating encampment crisis, which is a human rights crisis," said Hogue. "Everyone in Canada has the right to dignified, adequate housing. The UHEI was a necessary and positive first step to support municipalities that are on the front lines of responding to encampments. Now, we must see long-term support. Short-term funding cannot drive the systemic changes required to uphold the rights and dignity of people living in encampments. The federal government must lead the way to ensure there are adequate resources to respond to encampments and support the people living in them."
Her report contained several recommendations for all levels of government, including expanding federal investments, ending forced evictions and criminalization of homelessness, and putting in place culturally-specific and trauma-informed programs for the Indigenous.
The latest report followed another paper in February 2024, which sparked national attention and a new investment of $250-milllion in the 2024 federal budget to be matched by provinces, territories, and municipalities for solutions that respect human rights.
