Refugees Welcome To Canada......But what about the Homeless in Canada?

The State of Homelessness in Canada - Refugees Welcome To Canada......But what about the Homeless in Canada? 


On the eve of those arrivals, Immigration Minister John McCallum said today the refugees won't move to the front of the line for social housing or Canadian citizenship,

The Liberal government is "very sensitive" to some concerns that the new arrivals will have higher priority for jobs, housing or citizenship, McCallum said. "We do have to be careful that the refugees not be seen to queue jump, if you will," he said.

With extended waits to gain Canadian citizenship, the refugees will have to apply and wait like everyone else and should not expect it "overnight," McCallum said.

The minister said he has also heard from mayors of cities where residents having been waiting months or even years for social housing.

"I don't think it would be popular among those who have been waiting too long if refugees come in and suddenly go to the front of the line," he said.

McCallum said Canadians have a "large welcoming attitude," and the government must encourage and foster that by acting in a "prudent fashion."

"It is a balance we have to strike," the minister said. "On the one hand, I do think a large majority want to welcome these people coming from the scourge of civil war to our country, and make them feel comfortable, help them adjust and hope they will get jobs. But at the same time, we don't want to put them in a privileged position relative to other Canadians who are themselves working hard to find housing, to become citizens and so on."

McCallum said about 800 people are being processed each day, and that he is "guardedly optimistic" the process will continue to move at a brisk pace.

New figures released during a briefing in Ottawa include:

11,932 applications are in progress. 

1,451 permanent resident visas have been issued. 

416 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada since Nov. 4, 2015. 

69 communities across Canada are preparing to welcome refugees.

McCallum also announced the government is increasing funding for resettlement assistance services by $3.6 million, in order to welcome refugees not only with "a smile, but also with a roof over their head."

In this ground-breaking report we look at updated statistics on homelessness and housing, as well as provide a detailed cost estimate on reducing the state of the crisis.

It’s backed up by solid research Housing Policy Targeting Homelessness from real estate scholar Jane Londerville and economist Marion Steele.

The infographic is based on research in the report and highlights just how severe the housing and homelessness crisis is in this country.

It includes new numbers that increase last year’s estimate of the number of people homeless by 5,000 a day or 35,000 a year.

This means that every day about 35,000 people experience homelessness and over 235,000 people experience it annually. It also increased the estimate of number of people who experience chronic and episodic homelessness to 13,000 to 33,000 annually.

To put these numbers in perspective, consider that today 18% of all Canadian renter households (an estimated 733,275 households) experience extreme housing affordability problems, meaning that they have low incomes and are paying more than 50% of their income on rent, putting them at risk of homelessness.

Moreover, homelessness, which emerged as an incredibly visible problem in the 1990s, continues to affect many individuals and families.

We now estimate that over 235,000 different Canadians will experience homelessness in a year, with over 35,000 Canadians homeless on any given night.

Outside of a few communities that have made real progress in reducing the numbers of people experiencing homelessness, we cannot say that major improvements have been made. Hmmm.....The last thing we want is more homeless in Canada,You can read the full report on homelessness in Canada here.