The latest brick in the wall from government to address homelessness is a $2 million partnership between Ottawa and the territorial government.
This partnership will help alleviate capacity challenges identified by local shelter operators, while addressing encampments and helping find homes for people sleeping in tents through a “human rights-based and housing first approach,” stated a release.
The GNWT will match the federal funding of $1 million over two years.
NWT MP Michael McLeod. (CKLB files)
In the short term, the GNWT will provide additional shelter spaces to ensure that those in need have a safe and warm space during the winter months.
For example, a good chunk of this agreement was already earmarked for the current On-the-Land Camp initiative on Ingraham Trail outside of Yellowknife The initiative provides shelter for up to 30 people in an abstinence-based environment.
In the medium to long-term, it will work on increasing transitional and supportive housing options for individuals at risk of homelessness and/or exiting homelessness across the territory.
The funding provided for this agreement is part of the federal government’s $250-million commitment that was outlined in Budget 2024 to address the urgent issue of encampments and unsheltered homelessness across Canada.
This agreement builds on existing programs like Reaching Home, through which the federal government is investing $5 billion over nine years to address homelessness.
“As public spaces become sanctuaries for too many, it’s crucial we unite to create meaningful change,” NWT MP Michael McLeod stated in the release.
“This agreement with the federal government provides not only immediate shelter but also essential support services that can help individuals work towards stability and independence,” stated Premier R.J. Simpson.
This funding complements federal investments made through Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy, which provides funding and support to urban, Indigenous, territorial and rural, and remote communities to help them address their local homelessness needs.
- The City of Yellowknife is responsible for administering Reaching Home’s Territorial Homelessness stream funding in Yellowknife (approx. $21 million) from 2019-20 to 2027-28.
- Outside of the capital, Territorial Homelessness funding (approx. $3.4 million) is administered by Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada through a shared delivery model that funds individual projects. Reaching Home officials collaborate with the Housing NWT to help identify projects.
- Reaching Home also provides distinctions-based funding (approx. $10.5 million) available from 2019-20 to 2027-28 for First Nations and modern treaty holders in the NWT for culturally appropriate homelessness programming.
- The NWT, through the A Way Home strategy, is working to make homelessness “rare, brief and non-recurring,” recognizing housing as a right and ensuring that all individuals have access to the appropriate supports to be housed successfully.
- A Way Home aims to increase transitional and supportive housing across the territory to begin to address the gaps in the northern housing continuum.
