Calling a Special Council Meeting to Declare a Housing and Houselessness Emergency

Edmonton, we are at a breaking point. I hear your calls to change how we are handling encampments, caring for our unhoused neighbours and improving the safety of communities impacted by encampments.

It is clear that Edmontonians take the issue of encampments and housing seriously, and want unhoused people to have access to the services they need. While recent encampment response actions have caught the eyes of Edmontonians, unhoused Edmontonians have struggled for years under a broken system.

I have been clear that with any response to encampments, safety and compassion for our unhoused neighbours, community members, and all involved are our top priority. I am incredibly appreciative of our front-line staff who are doing their jobs under difficult and emotional circumstances, but continue to show up every day with compassion.

However, recent actions at encampment clearances may not be in line with our commitments to upholding reconciliation, and our obligation of care in communities across the city. I had hoped that the changes that were made to the High-Risk Encampment Response after our meeting with members of the social sector, EPS and City Administration would have addressed some gaps, but it is clear more changes are needed.

Over the past three years, we have been building from an urgent issue to an emergency. The system is at a breaking point. That is why I have called a special meeting of City Council on January 15th where I will motion to declare a housing and houselessness emergency in the City of Edmonton.

Encampments are not new and are a symptom of systemic issues. The number of unhoused people in Edmonton has doubled since 2019. Currently, the number of people flowing into houselessness exceeds the capacity of our social system. This is causing a bottleneck effect that increases the wait to get help through the Housing First program.

The need for shelters is a symptom of, not a solution to houselessness. It is clear what we are doing now is not making the progress we hoped for.

Edmonton cannot do this alone

If City Council approves this emergency declaration, my first action will be to invite Provincial Minister Jason Nixon, Federal Minister Sean Fraser and Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Treaty 6 Cody Thomas to join me in an emergency meeting so all levels of government can sit at the same table and take action together.

I know that declaring an emergency on housing and houselessness will be useless without fast and meaningful action. We need coordination of planning, immediate increase in investments, and human-centred and reconciliation-focused action.

Edmontonians have told me that they are tired of governments blaming each other while not working together, but the reality is the City of Edmonton does not possess the resources or authorities to manage this crisis alone.

We have been trying to do what we can with what we have (see housing investments). But, despite these investments, this crisis of affordable housing is not just continuing, but growing. We cannot overhaul this broken system or address the root causes of houselessness without significant help and support from other levels of government.

We know what to do and we have been building relationships with other orders of government to get it done. Since my first day in this position, I have been advocating to our provincial and federal representatives for action and investment to meet our immediate and long-term needs.

I have been heartened by the work that Minister Nixon has done to address the longstanding issue of equity in funding for shelter spaces between Calgary and Edmonton. He and his staff have worked with us to add additional spaces in areas that are in critical need, such as Indigenous-led and Women’s shelters. I am confident that the Minister understands our issues and I am hopeful that this declaration will offer him the license he needs to get his Cabinet colleagues’ support to take immediate action.

The Federal government and Minister Fraser have made significant investments in supporting municipalities to address the housing crisis through initiatives like the Rapid Housing Initiative and the Housing Accelerator Fund. While we are grateful for these investments, they still fall short of the scale of the crisis. At the Prime Minister’s request, the Mayor’s Office submitted a business case that outlined immediate, shovel-ready Indigenous-led housing and wellness projects. This plan was submitted in December 2022 and we are still awaiting a decision on whether this pilot project will proceed with federal funding.

Earlier this year, I co-signed a letter to the Prime Minister alongside Mayors of the 5 large Prairie cities calling for action to address the urban Indigenous housing and health care crisis. We have had several meetings with Ministers to discuss these longstanding concerns.

We have been working side by side with leaders from the Confederacy of Treaty 6 and have a Letter of Intention to work together on advocacy for increased investments in Indigenous Housing within the City of Edmonton.

There have been countless hours of meetings and conversations about the crisis situation in Edmonton — we know what the issues and solutions are.

But the time for talk is over, we need coordinated action now.

How we got here

In late December, in response to the recent notice that EPS would be leading the clearing 8 high-risk encampments, I called an emergency meeting with social service providers, the Edmonton Police Service, and officials from the City of Edmonton to discuss our response, and ensure unhoused Edmontonians are supported.

The group identified many opportunities to improve the way our organizations work together to holistically deal with encampments. But the biggest issue raised was the capacity of the sector to deal with Edmonton’s current housing needs.

Encampments are a symptom of decades of underinvestment in social infrastructure across all levels of government. Since the 1980s, investments in affordable housing have gone down year over year. We are currently catching up from this 40-year backlog on investment and construction.

Ending houselessness has been a priority for the City of Edmonton for decades. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we were achieving great results with our housing first model and increasing supply. We know the solutions and have a long track record of successful implementation.

Since 2019, the situation has changed. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues, inflation and interest rates continue to increase pressures and demand for affordable housing.

Addressing the lack of affordable housing supply is an essential part of our path to reconciliation. Of the approximately 3,000 unhoused Edmontonians, 60% are Indigenous. Indigenous people are disproportionately represented in our unhoused population and among those who are in core housing need. This overrepresentation is compounded by colonization, systemic racism, the legacies of the residential school system and ongoing and intergenerational trauma.

Edmonton’s current needs

Though this has been a crisis for years, it has escalated to an emergency. The number of people falling into houselessness exceeds the capacity of the system to respond. We’ve seen a 68% increase in the number of people seeking housing services between 2019 and 2022, but the number of people who have been placed in housing has only increased by 7%.

There is also an increase in the complexity of health needs present in Edmonton’s unhoused population, and these needs grow more complex the longer they are unhoused.

Many people are also under increased financial pressure and are slowly being pushed out of market housing they can afford. Many low-income households are one crisis or one missed paycheque away from losing their home.

Some of the work to address this is already in motion. We have partners and stakeholders who have been tirelessly working and doing what they can do within this system to build an Edmonton for all of us. We need to find new ways to support this work, listen to their concerns and ensure that the members of our community who are at the front lines of this crisis are included at decision-making tables.

Why we need a minimum shelter standard

There are many reasons why an unhoused Edmontonian might not access a shelter. They may be in a relationship and don’t want to be separated from their partner, may have pets, or may have important physical belongings they don’t want to part with. I have heard these stories directly from unhoused individuals, and these concerns are valid.

While many of the newest shelter spaces can accommodate the needs of unhoused Edmontonians, much of the existing shelter space does not meet the City of Edmonton’s Emergency Shelter Standards. I have also heard directly from people with lived experience who don’t feel safe accessing shelter spaces.

Encampments are not a safe and healthy living situation — they are a last resort necessitated by a failing system. The fire, sanitation and health risks are real and severe. We have also heard from EPS that encampments attract a criminal element that is preying on unhoused people. Although it is true that crime is occurring, public discussions have stigmatized and criminalized poverty. Being unhoused must not be criminalized. This perception is making it harder for partners to house people who need it.

Implementing Minimum Shelter Standards will be a key area where intergovernmental collaboration is needed. I will focus part of the discussion with Minister Nixon and Minister Fraser on how we can support shelter providers to adopt Edmonton’s Minimum Shelter Standards.

Next steps

Edmontonians are compassionate, and I have heard their concerns about recent actions to clear encampments. I hope that my motion for an emergency on housing and houselessness will show Edmontonians that addressing houselessness is the top priority.

It is beyond time to put our plans and conversations into action. We must accelerate permanent solutions to this emergency in the form of affordable housing, supportive housing, Indigenous-led housing solutions and wrap-around services including mental health and addiction support.

I wish that municipalities had the jurisdiction and resources to find solutions to the housing crisis on our own, but we don’t. City Council has already funded affordable housing at record levels by providing more than $183 million over this budget cycle.

Municipalities are the first line of response to encampments, but cannot meet the complex housing and public health crises growing in our communities by ourselves. Without other levels of government coming to the table to do their part and invest in affordable housing with wrap-around services, we’ll continue seeing encampments and Edmontonians without housing.

I hope that by bringing all levels of government to the table with urgency, and by continuing to partner with service providers, we can rebuild the system to the levels Edmontonians expect.