Homelessness in Sudbury rising, researcher blames lack of housing

Morning North9:30Nowhere to go: Homelessness problem in Sudbury

More than 400 people were homeless in Sudbury last winter. Carol Kauppi from Laurentian University is in the studio with a closer look at the problems facing some of the city's most vulnerable people.A survey of people living on the street in Sudbury show the numbers are on the rise and many are living in makeshift bush camps around the city, Sudbury city council has heard.

Laurentian University professor Carol Kauppi, lead author of a study that captured a snapshot of the homeless population from the winter of 2015, made the presentation to council on Monday.

The survey shows that 440 people identified as "absolutely homeless," close to 1,000 were at risk of becoming homeless and 21 had slept outside the night before.

About 45 per cent of those surveyed were of aboriginal backgrounds, which is much higher than among the homeless population in southern Ontario cities.

Kauppi told council that the survey is far from conclusive, as many people struggling with poverty refuse to participate in such surveys or do not use food banks, shelters and soup kitchens, where the census was taken.

Helping the 'street entrenched'

But she does believe the number of people living on the street is rising.

"There is a significant problem with homelessness in Sudbury," Kauppi said, citing the numerous "bush camps" that can be found surrounding the city's downtown.

She also noted that there is a "severe" poverty problem in the outlying areas of the city, where it's difficult for people to find shelters and food banks or travel downtown to use those services.

Kauppi said she believes the homeless population is on the rise and that a "constellation of issues" is to blame, including a lack of social housing.

There are currently about 1,100 people on the waiting list to move into one of the 1,800 units run by Greater Sudbury Housing.

"I'm personally very distraught about this," said councillor Gerry Montpellier. "Do we not have abandoned schools that we can use?"

City staff say it's an ongoing challenge to get the "street entrenched" to seek help at shelters or soup kitchens, but they are encouraged that Greater Sudbury is expecting $6 million in housing funding by 2018.

City councillor Al Sizer suggested that, instead of building the traditional townhouse or apartment units, perhaps the city should look at building some boarding houses designed for shorter stays.