Supportive Housing
A note to Edmontonians: this is one of the transition memos that I developed for the next Council. In making them public, I hope that they are of use to candidates and voters alike and contribute to a productive discussion about Edmonton’s future.
About 2,600 Edmontonians are experiencing homelessness as of August 2021, with 653 most frequently staying outdoors. This tragic situation is not inevitable, or the natural order of things. It is the result of long-standing policy failures that all three orders of government have contributed to over time.
The problems surrounding homelessness are complex, and intersect with racism, discrimination, mental health, addictions and intergenerational trauma. Functionally ending homelessness is a significant challenge that will require the cooperation of all three orders of government and civil society, especially the nonprofit housing sector. But not only must we do it as a moral imperative — we really can do it as well.
We can end homelessness by providing the right types of housing and the health and wellness supports that folks need. Under the Housing First program, Edmonton has housed over 14,900 people since 2009. Other communities have gone even further with the Housing First approach, including Medicine Hat which functionally ended homelessness earlier this year. People may still become houseless, but ‘functionally ending chronic homelessness’ means that such experiences are rare, brief and non-recurring.
To get there in Edmonton, we will need investment and change in the entire homeless-serving ecosystem. Our most urgent need is supportive housing, which provides folks a permanent home in a multi-unit building combined with on-site health and wellness support. Because of the onsite wraparound supports, supportive housing is well-suited for Edmontonians with acute addiction, mental health and trauma challenges, which are often in turn exacerbated by homelessness. It costs some money to build and operate, but it delivers cost savings (mainly to the province in Health and Justice) and contributes to neighbourhoods where everyone is welcome and safe. Most importantly, supportive housing provides homes for people who need them.
Edmonton is making significant progress on closing the gap on supportive housing, and there will be much more for the next Council to do to continue that momentum.
Progress
At Ambrose Place in McCauley, we have one of the best examples of supportive housing in Edmonton, with a high level of support available to residents to help them maintain their housing. Studies of Ambrose Place have shown a 61 per cent decrease in emergency room visits by residents; a reduction in the overall rate of inpatient hospital stays from 40 to 14 days per year; and overall savings for police and justice systems of $480,000 annually. With the 2019-22 Affordable Housing Investment Plan, City Council has ramped up its efforts to duplicate these successes elsewhere.
Securing funding
In an effort to make the largest impact possible, the City has worked with other orders of government with formal jurisdiction over housing while also putting forward our own unprecedented investments. Although homelessness overall has increased during the pandemic, we have considerable progress to build upon in closing the gap on supportive housing.
One key progress marker was the introduction of the National Housing Strategy in late 2017. Following sustained advocacy from housing champions and municipal leaders across Canada, the National Housing Strategy marked the re-entry of the federal government into the housing sphere after decades of retreat and inaction by several governments of both Liberal and Conservative stripes. While funding is still ramping up, I hope that the creation of the National Housing Strategy will eventually be viewed as the turning point towards ending homelessness in Canada. Essentially, it could be the opposite of how early-90s federal budget decisions led to affordable housing’s decline and contributed to many of the issues that we see in Canadian cities today.
Through the City’s 2019-2022 Affordable Housing Investment Plan, City Council committed our own funding to supportive housing, specifically setting a goal of inducing construction of 900 supportive housing units. This funding, combined with the federal government’s Rapid Housing Initiative, is currently being used for the construction of five supportive housing sites located across the city in Westmount, King Edward Park, Terrace Heights, Wellington, and Sherbrooke. Construction will be complete this year and will result in 210 units. Further, we are proposing a similar municipal-federal partnership on four hotel conversions as part of the second round of the Rapid Housing Initiative. This application is currently under review by the federal government, and would result in an additional 360 units.
With federal cooperation, we have been able to get shovels in the ground and move Edmonton closer to the goal of ending chronic homelessness. We have been less successful in securing provincial support for supportive housing. While we previously have requested that the provincial government contribute capital construction dollars, our current request is simply to commit to the ‘lights-on funding’ for health and social support services under provincial jurisdiction. Securing this funding commitment will be important to ensuring the success of supportive housing developments and attracting additional federal funding to build more units. Without provincial commitment to turning the lights on, we risk leaving federal construction funds on the table.
Removing barriers
Separate from the funding discussion, City Council has worked to remove local barriers to supportive housing.
One key instance is parking. The success of Ambrose Place happened in spite of the City’s own rules requiring an underground parkade, something which drives construction costs up significantly. The new “open option” parking approach allows property owners to decide how much parking they need to include in their build, instead of needing a prescription from the City. This reduces barriers for developments that might not need parking for every resident.
Council has also greatly expanded the number of zones that allow supportive housing as a use, removing previous discriminatory provisions that sought to regulate groups of people instead of the use of a building. Now, supportive housing is a permitted use in most apartment zones and various commercial and industrial zones. Housing providers and the City itself facing fewer barriers to developing supportive housing positions Edmonton to make the most of our own housing investments, as well as those from federal and provincial governments.
Moving forward
The supportive housing already underway will have an immense impact on the lives of many Edmontonians currently experiencing homelessness. Each of the 210 units under construction will make a real difference in someone’s life. But to end homelessness for everybody, Edmonton will need to build much more. Here, I will offer four things Edmonton will need to focus on to do just that:
- Continue local leadership. City Council invested in housing at an unprecedented level as part of the current 2019-22 budget cycle, while removing regulatory barriers that prohibited the types of housing we said we wanted to build. Edmonton should continue to welcome supportive housing in areas all over the city, while putting its money where its mouth is and continuing housing funding and land acquisition in the next capital budget cycle. Money will be tight, but these are critical investments.
- Build on direct relationship with the federal government. The Rapid Housing Initiative has proven how federal-municipal partnership can quickly get shovels in the ground. There is a second round of RHI funding open for applications right now, and there may be more in the near future.
The federal-municipal housing working group is a new partnership between Canadian municipalities and the federal government to co-design solutions. This group is getting its legs under it, but it represents a significant opportunity to continue to collaborate to fund new and better ways to accomplish shared goals.
- Continue advocacy to the Province. With clear jurisdiction and levers for health care, social services, and housing, the Government of Alberta needs to be a true partner in the work to end homelessness. Supportive housing has been Council’s top advocacy priority in recent years, and while we haven’t seen all the results we hoped for, continuing to advocate will be important to avoid relieving the political pressure we have built up.
Depending on the stance of the government, a variety of advocacy tactics should be considered. We need to take a ‘Team Edmonton’ approach, in collaboration with the housing sector, homelessness advocates, the business community, and taxpayers who want better results for their money. In the end, homelessness costs us all more money in the long run while negatively impacting business districts like Chinatown, downtown and Old Strathcona. We’ll also need to be open to new ideas to break the impasse — see below!
- Openly communicate with Edmontonians about the benefits of supportive housing. Not many Edmontonians have experience with supportive housing, so there will naturally continue to be questions and concerns. Continuing to make the case for the benefits of ending homelessness will help hasten that end goal, and will help supportive housing residents be welcomed in our communities. The next Council will also have the benefit of newly-constructed supportive housing to point to as an example. There will always be some opposition, but I believe that most Edmontonians will want to be part of the solution to homelessness, rather than perpetuating the status quo.
With all levels of government bought in, it will be possible to close the infrastructure gap that perpetuates the current state of homelessness. Through the first two rounds of the Rapid Housing Initiative alone, we could end up with 570 new supportive housing units coming online in less than one year. If we truly get all governments on board, we can build enough for anyone who needs supportive housing — and come much closer to ending chronic homelessness.
Key challenges
The need for housing solutions is severe. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have seen the number of homelessness Edmontonians grow by about 1,000. While not all these folks will need supportive housing — many will likely only need a home rather than the wraparound supports — the growing homeless population is an obvious challenge that will need to be addressed with continued investment and partnership. Homeward Trust, the City and housing partners are coming together to update the Plan to End and Prevent Homelessness for the post-pandemic context, to guide the appropriate investments across the housing spectrum (of which supportive housing will continue to be a critical component).
For continued construction of supportive housing, Council will have to navigate a challenging intergovernmental landscape. To this point, the Government of Alberta has not bought into Edmonton’s supportive housing plans.
There are key challenges with forging ahead without a provincial partner. The first is a lack of construction funding — while we are using mainly federal and municipal funds for now, truly building enough supportive housing in a brief timeframe will need the Province to pitch in. Second, the lack of provincial buy-in for operational funding means that Homeward Trust will need to re-allocate funding from other priorities, while the general homeless population continues to grow. This lack of support could even jeopardize future federal investments, as the federal government could question if their investments are going to the best use if they aren’t properly funded for operations.
In a more general sense, letting our provincial partners off the hook by attempting to go it alone is unlikely to result in the level of investment that Edmonton needs. Simply put, we can’t let the advocacy wane.
A big idea
We need to be open to new approaches. Here is one idea to consider.
Practically speaking, we have an impasse with the Province that needs to be addressed. Traditional advocacy will continue to be important, but we should look to creative suggestions to break the deadlock. One idea I will put forward is social impact financing.
We believe supportive housing will produce savings to health and justice, and demand reduction for civic services like police, fire and peace officers. While we have made that case to our provincial partners many times, one thing I’ve pondered is de-risking the proposal for them.
If we could track and harness those savings, perhaps the future cost avoidance for the Province and the City could pay back the ‘social impact’ financing that covers the cost of construction and backstops the initial operations of the services. If we can track savings to the Province, those should pay back the costs over time. If there is a shortfall, the city could share the risk if it doesn’t pan out. Our provincial partners would still need to agree to the arrangement and perhaps provide the appropriate legislative tools, but they wouldn’t themselves be on the hook.
The City shouldn’t have to offer this kind of de-risking incentive to another order of government, but it is the type of idea that might be necessary to break the impasse and move forward in partnership with all levels of government. In the end, results will be what matters.
Key partners
- Homeward Trust
- Edmonton Police Service
- Alberta Community and Social Services
- Alberta Seniors and Housing
- Supportive Housing Operators, Niginan Housing Ventures
Further considerations
What amount of chronic homelessness in Edmonton are you okay with if not zero? What will you do to achieve your target?
Further reading
- Updated Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
- Don Iveson: Young Edmontonians have their say on ending homelessness
- MaRS Centre for Impact Investing
Read other transition memos