Thunder Bay, Ont., gets funding boost to address homelessness amid shift to human rights-based approach

As the City of Thunder Bay takes a new approach to addressing homelessness, service providers are getting more money to support efforts on the ground.

The Ontario government announced on Friday that the Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board (DSSAB) will receive an additional $11 million in funding, an increase of nearly 200 per cent, amounting to $16.5 million annually for the next three years.

The extra cash comes through additions to Ontario's Homelessness Prevention Program and Indigenous Supportive Housing Program.

Bill Bradica, the board's chief administrative officer, said staff have been advocating for more resources for years, sharing data with upper levels of government on the city's high rates of overdoses and mental health challenges, and how these have contributed to the number of people experiencing homelessness.

"If we're going to ever get out of this situation of chronic homelessness, there needs to be more spaces for people," Bradica told CBC News. "Specifically, we need more transitional spaces and supportive housing spaces for people."

The board plans to spend about $9 million to work with partners to build transitional housing in the first year of the three-year funding boost, said Bradica. The remaining dollars will be spent on services including emergency shelters and outreach.

"A funding increase of this magnitude represents an opportunity to help more people access appropriate housing. It also confirms that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has been listening to the advocacy of our board and other service managers regarding the need to rethink funding allocations based on local need," said Ken Boshcoff, the board's chair and Thunder Bay's mayor, in a news release issued Friday.

The board has put out an expression of interest and is awaiting responses from partners.

"The work of our local DSSAB office has been instrumental in securing this funding and implementing it to address the unique issues and approaches needed in northwestern Ontario," said Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland in Friday's news release.

"The funding allocation is a testament to their dedication and hard work, and I am confident that with their continued efforts with our government, we will make tremendous strides in tackling homelessness in Thunder Bay-Atikokan."

Housing wait lists growing in the city

DSSAB supports about 4,400 housing units, 2,500 of which it directly owns and operates. Of the remaining units, 900 are operated by non-profit housing corporations that receive funding from the board and 1,000 take the form of rent supplement programs or portable housing benefits, Bradica explained.

There are a few new housing projects under construction in the city, including:

• Six family units recently completed by Matawa, with people expected to move in soon.
• 21 transitional housing units under construction by Matawa at its Algoma Street site, to be completed in late fall.
• 10 housing units under construction by Dilico Anishinabek Family Care, to be completed in late fall.

But more housing stock is still needed. There are about 1,200 people on the wait list for rent-geared-to-income housing in Thunder Bay as of this March, said Bradica. The numbers fluctuated over the pandemic, decreasing when fewer people were applying and now increasing from more than 900 since the end of 2021.

There is also a second list, called the by-name list, a registry of people who identify as homeless or in a precarious situation and are accessing social services. About 750 names are on that list so far.

"Those are the people that we think would really potentially benefit from this focus on transitional and supportive housing," Bradica said.

City council reassesses approach to homelessness

Thunder Bay city council is looking at the city's response to homeless encampments that have cropped up over the years, especially in the warmer months.

Led by the harm reduction agency Elevate NWO, community groups have been assisting those living in encampments through the unsheltered homelessness pilot project, launched last year. This involves peer support workers providing supplies, organizing cleanups, and helping people fill out housing applications and connect with social services.

A council motion passed last month will see the city "adopt a human rights-based approach to responding to unsheltered homelessness … prioritizing needs-based service provision to individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness," according to a report prepared by the city's manager of community strategies, Cynthia Olsen.

Council voted to earmark $20,000 in next year's proposed operating budget to further support efforts to address homelessness.

City staff are to report back to council in early 2024 following a community consultation to determine what designated/supported encampments could look like in the city.

This human rights-based approach to homelessness comes after a recent deputation to council from residents living near the McVicar Creek trail who expressed safety and environmental concerns around the encampments along the bank last summer.

In January, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled the Region of Waterloo cannot evict people from one of its homeless encampments if there aren't enough emergency shelter beds available. This case has stirred conversations across Ontario municipalities about what their response to encampments can, and should, be.

A move in the right direction: Elevate NWO

Holly Gauvin, executive director of Elevate NWO, said Thunder Bay council's recent decision is "a really big move."

"Every time you move somebody from one camp and push them somewhere else, you create a disconnect, and that disconnect can last sometimes for months, which only prolongs the period of which they're going to be out in these parks or in the streets," Gauvin told CBC News.

Those involved in the unsheltered homelessness pilot project helped move 100 people into housing over a 12-month period, she said.

DSSAB recently aided their efforts with funding for wraparound support, and the additional $20,000 from the city next year will further that, with amenities like portable toilets, shower spaces and opportunities for people to do laundry.

"Those are things that give people back a little bit of pride, a little bit of dignity, and will really help reinforce that there is a change in the air and that people don't need to be made to feel worse just because they don't have keys to an apartment," Gauvin said.