June 13, 2017
Calgary Homeless Foundation
Alberta
Janice Chan, Nick Falvo and Victoria Ballance
Our Position on Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy
Calgary Homeless Foundation (CHF) supports the federal government’s development of a Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy. We eagerly anticipate a Strategy that reflects the need to ensure all Canadians, especially those most vulnerable, have access to the supports and services that will improve their economic well-being.
While poverty is not always about homelessness, homelessness is always about poverty. Calgary remains the epicentre of homelessness in Alberta, with 3,222 individuals enumerated in the 2016 province-wide Point-in-Time Count of Homelessness held in October. Calgary represents 60% of the provincial homeless population, but just 29% of the province’s total population. As a community, Calgary’s Plan to End Homelessness (2015), identifies 15,600 Calgarian households in extreme core housing need. These households spend over 50% of their income on shelter and have incomes less than $20,000 per year, placing them at high risk of homelessness.