Close X
Thursday, September 26, 2024
ADVT 
National

Ottawa unsure if it’s reducing homelessness: AG

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 15 Nov, 2022 03:02 PM
  • Ottawa unsure if it’s reducing homelessness: AG

OTTAWA - The federal government doesn’t know if its initiatives aimed at reducing chronic homelessness are actually working, says auditor general Karen Hogan.

In a new report, Hogan said no organization has taken the lead on the federal government’s goal of reducing chronic homelessness by 50 per cent by 2028.

The report said Infrastructure Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada do not know whether their programs are improving housing outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.

The auditor general provides oversight to the federal government by conducting audits of its operations and financial accounts.

Hogan released four reports on Tuesday assessing the government's performance on a range of issues, including chronic homelessness, emergency management in First Nations communities, Arctic waters surveillance and cybersecurity of personal information on the cloud.

"When I look at the four performance audit reports we've released today, I see a common thread," Hogan said, namely that government organizations are often slow to use the tools at their disposal to deliver results.

She said data gaps are common across the federal government, making it challenging to assess the progress on different goals.

Hogan said what's most frustrating for her as the auditor general is that federal departments know about these gaps.

"The fact that … there's very little concrete action is possibly the most frustrating thing, in that departments know," she said. "And so, why aren't they taking the actions needed?"

Those gaps made it impossible for the auditor to properly assess whether the federal government was reducing chronic homelessness as promised.

Infrastructure Canada spent $1.36 billion on reducing homelessness as part of the Reaching Home program between 2019 and 2021, and yet the audit found the department didn’t know whether homelessness increased or decreased during that time frame.

Since 2018, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has spent $4.5 billion as the lead on the national housing strategy. However, the report found that the CMHC doesn’t know who is benefiting from its programs.

The national housing strategy was announced by the Liberals in 2017 as a 10-year, multi-billion-dollar plan to expand affordable housing to more Canadians.

In her assessment, the auditor general also found that some rentals billed as affordable units were not in fact affordable to low-income households.

A unit is considered affordable when rent costs less than 30 per cent of a household’s before-tax income.

However, the average rental price of units approved under the National Housing Co-Investment Fund was higher than that in several provinces and territories.

In Nunavut, the average cost was 46 per cent of household income, while in Ontario and Manitoba, it was above 37 per cent.

The auditor general says Infrastructure Canada and CMHC were not working in a co-ordinated way and their initiatives were not well integrated.

Without co-ordination, the federal government is unlikely to achieve its target of halving chronic homelessness by 2028, the report found.

Hogan's recommendations include collecting and analyzing data on homelessness in a timely manner.

The report says Infrastructure Canada and the CMHC have accepted the recommendations.

"We as a government continue to believe that everyone in Canada has the right to a safe and affordable place to call home," Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen said in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

The minister acknowledged the government needs to do a better job of collecting information and said an online system has been launched to capture data on chronic homelessness.

He blamed the lack of data on community groups struggling to collect information while responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

MORE National ARTICLES

Burnaby RCMP looking to identify suspect after indecent act near Lougheed Highway and Gaglardi Way

Burnaby RCMP looking to identify suspect after indecent act near Lougheed Highway and Gaglardi Way
On Thursday, May 12, Burnaby RCMP received a report that a driver was seen masturbating inside a vehicle while at a red light beside a westbound 136 bus on Lougheed Highway near Gaglardi Way around 3:55 p.m. A teenage victim on the bus took video of the suspect, which has been provided to police.    

Burnaby RCMP looking to identify suspect after indecent act near Lougheed Highway and Gaglardi Way

Man exposes himself to woman in a park in North Vancouver

Man exposes himself to woman in a park in North Vancouver
The male was sitting on a bench at a bend in the pathway on the Spirit Trail in Waterfront Park, where it faces the water, and exposed himself as the woman walked past. The woman was physically unharmed in the incident.

Man exposes himself to woman in a park in North Vancouver

Man leg-sweeps teen to ground at Pacific Centre Mall

Man leg-sweeps teen to ground at Pacific Centre Mall
The 15-year-old victim was walking in Pacific Centre Mall around 11:45 a.m. on May 8 when a man approached him from behind and leg-swept him to the ground. The alleged suspect fled after the assault, but was followed by mall security.

Man leg-sweeps teen to ground at Pacific Centre Mall

$416 million in disaster funding comes through for homes lost in B.C. wildfires

$416 million in disaster funding comes through for homes lost in B.C. wildfires
Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair says it's advancing $416 million to rebuild homes lost in the 2021 fires, including the razed village of Lytton, in response to a provincial request for disaster financial assistance.

$416 million in disaster funding comes through for homes lost in B.C. wildfires

Musk puts Twitter deal 'on hold', says still committed to acquisition

Musk puts Twitter deal 'on hold', says still committed to acquisition
The micro-blogging platform had 229 million users in the first quarter. Musk has signed a $44 billion deal to take over Twitter, of which he will pay $21 billion from his own pocket while the rest will come as a loan from a consortium of banks.

Musk puts Twitter deal 'on hold', says still committed to acquisition

Unseasonal chill sets records in southern B.C.

Unseasonal chill sets records in southern B.C.
Special weather statements covered mountain passes along the Coquihalla Highway and Highway 3, as flurries added to the two to 10 centimetres dumped earlier in the week.    

Unseasonal chill sets records in southern B.C.