1. Develop a new federal, provincial and territorial affordable housing framework agreement
This recommendation includes many components. The Conservatives have addressed some of these components but not others.
Affordable Housing Framework
There is no current affordable housing framework. 153 members of the Conservative Party voted against Bill C-400 in February 2013, citing instead, in the debate speeches, their record of building housing and supporting homelessness through the Investment in Affordable Housing Initiative and the Homelessness Partnering Strategy.
Plan to End Homelessness
The Conservative Party has required all municipalities who are identified as designated communities to develop a plan to end homelessness, but has no such requirement for the provinces and territories. The 61 designated communities are the front-line in the battle against homelessness because of the concentration of people experiencing homelessness that can be found there. Requiring plans in these communities is a good first step.
Data Management
The Conservatives have implemented the National Homeless Information System (NHIS) as a component of the HPS. It is “designed to facilitate the collection of data from homeless service providers in support of creating a national portrait of homelessness. The NHIS Initiative aims to prevent and reduce homelessness by increasing knowledge and understanding of homelessness issues across Canada. The NHIS funding stream supports the implementation and deployment of the Homeless Individuals and Families Information System (HIFIS) software, HIFIS training at the community level, and projects related to community shelter data coordination” (NHIS website). Communities are not allowed to spend HPS funds on any software program or hardware that duplicates HIFIS or is not compatible with HIFIS.
Point-in-Time Counts
Communities are encouraged to spend HPS funds on data management, collection and evaluation. While Point-in-Time (PiT) counts have not been made mandatory, they are “highly encouraged” and the Conservatives are supporting a national Point-in-Time count during the first two months of 2016. HPS funds can be used to cover the costs of conducting a count and additional funding is being made available to those communities that carry out their count in the first two months of 2016. HPS has developed a PiT Count Guide and has funded the COH to develop a methodology and toolkit.
Housing First
The Conservatives have been strong supporters and advocates of Housing First for the past few years. In the 2013 Economic Action Plan, the government announced the renewal of the Homelessness Partnering Strategy including a new focus on Housing First. The Housing First approach is currently in the implementation phase. The largest 10 designated communities were required to start investing 65% of their funding into Housing First Activities as of April 1st 2015. All designated communities receiving $200,000 or more in HPS funding are required to invest at least 40% of these funds into Housing First starting April 1st 2016. This is also true for communities receiving $200,000 or more through HPS Aboriginal Homelessness funding. Communities that receive less than $200,000 and those located in the North are encouraged but not required to implement Housing First.
The federal government also funded the Canadian Mental Health Commission in the amount of $110 million to conduct the At Home/Chez Soi program, which can be considered the largest direct research-based intervention in Housing First in the world. Research into the At Home/Chez Soi program has established Housing First very definitively as a best practice in ending homelessness.