Government of Canada announces close to $3 million to support participation of designated communities to participate in Everyone Counts: the 2018 Coordinated Point-in-Time Count of Homelessness in Canadian Communities

February 22, 2017 Gatineau, Quebec Employment and Social Development Canada

Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, announced nearly $3 million to support Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) designated communities that wish to participate in Everyone Counts: the 2018 Coordinated Point-in-Time (PiT) count of Homelessness in Canadian Communities.

The 2018 Coordinated Point-in-Time (PiT) count will help communities measure their progress in reducing homelessness and will contribute to the understanding of homelessness throughout Canada. The results of this initiative will also contribute to the Government of Canada’s efforts to reduce poverty in Canada.

Communities can also choose to implement a joint PiT count and Registry Week, which helps the community to create a by-name list of individuals experiencing homelessness. This list can be used to link individuals to housing supports as part of the 20,000 Homes Campaign of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness.

Findings from the 2018 Coordinated PiT count, when coupled with results from the 2016 Coordinated PiT count, will provide important insight into changes in the homeless population over time. In 2016, a total of 32 communities participated in the first nationally coordinated PiT count. Key findings from this PiT count, which ended on April 30, 2016, were published in Highlights – 2016 Coordinated Point-in-Time Count of Homelessness in Canadian Communities.

Quotes

“Partnership and collaboration with communities and stakeholders are key to finding solutions to homelessness in Canada. The information gathered from both the 2016 and 2018 Point-in-Time counts will contribute to a national picture of homelessness in Canada. It will enable communities to better identify and respond to the needs of homeless individuals.”
– The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development

Quick Facts

The call will be open until May 31, 2017. Following this call, PiT counts will be conducted in designated communities from March 1 to April 30, 2018. In addition to the Guide to Point-in-Time Counts in Canada https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/communities/homelessness/reports/guide-point-in-time-counts.html), participating communities will receive support through an implementation toolkit and training.
From Budget 2016, the Government of Canada invested an additional $111.8 million over two years in the HPS to provide communities the support they need to help prevent and reduce homelessness, including Housing First activities, better emergency response services, and supports for youth, women fleeing violence and veterans. This builds on the program’s existing investment of nearly $600 million over five years.
To support community efforts to understand homelessness, the Government of Canada is investing nearly $3 million in this initiative.
Since the launch of the HPS, nearly 35,000 Canadians who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless have benefitted from education and training opportunities; assistance has been provided to support over 34,000 job placements; more than 6,000 new shelter beds have been created; and the program has helped place over 82,000 people in more stable housing.

Government of Canada announces close to $3 million to support participation of designated communities to participate in Everyone Counts: the 2018 Coordinated Point-in-Time Count of Homelessness in Canadian Communities

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