Homeless crisis grows while Canada prospers

The economy is strong, provinces run budget surpluses, yet we turn our backs on the destitute
Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, April 18, 2008

Multimedia:

Narrated slideshow: Daphne Bramham and Randy Shore reflect on the people they met for this series

Podcast: Download the above slideshow in a Quicktime and iTunes compatible format (m4a, 4.4 MB).

Not since the Great Depression have so many Canadians been homeless or at risk of losingthe roofs over their heads.

But what makes the homeless crisis different from the 1930s is that this is not the result of a natural disaster. It's the result of a perfect storm of failed government policies.

You see homeless people everywhere, not just in downtown Vancouver. Some sit quietly with their hands outstretched. Others prowl a favourite corner begging for spare change. Some huddle with their dirty blankets, cardboard and plastic in abandoned doorways and under bridges.

But there are others that you'll never see because they stay with different friends for periods of time or spend a night now and again with family members. Some hold down jobs and take their kids to school every day. Others have spent a lifetime working only to find themselves homeless in their 60s, 70s and 80s.

Even conservative estimates suggest that between 200,000 and 300,000 Canadians sleep in the streets, emergency shelters or transitional housing, or sofa-surf each night. The B.C. government estimates there are 5,500 homeless British Columbians, but the opposition New Democrats say it's likely at least double that.

The most shocking number comes from the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addictions. Its estimate of 11,750 British Columbians who are "absolutely homeless" accounts only for those with severe addictions and/or mental illness. Its report - commissioned by the B.C. government and completed in October - suggests that there are an additional 18,759 people with addictions and/or mental illness at imminent risk of homelessness.

Every day between 1.7 million and 2.7 million Canadians go to work and worry that if they were to miss their next paycheque, they and their families would be on the street. That's what the Toronto-based Wellesley Institute has extrapolated from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. data on housing affordability.

In that same report, the institute pointed out that of all the provinces, B.C. spends the least on housing - a measly $41 per person compared to the national average of $109.

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