Prime Minister Mark Carney’s nearly $30-billion plan to end homelessness in less than a decade is being met with online pushback.
asserted
plan → end → pushback
Last Friday, a day after unveiling the Liberal government’s 2026 budget, Carney flew to Winnipeg to announce his plan to tackle homelessness.
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Carney → unveil → homelessness
The federal government inked a partnership with Manitoba that will see more than $1 billion in federal funding to help build more than 2,000 new supportive and transitional homes and a new Winnipeg Centre for Mental Health and Addictions.
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that → ink → Health
“Here in Winnipeg, as in many cities across Canada, the homelessness crisis is acute,” Carney said.
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Carney → say → Canada
“It starts with people who are just getting by and something goes wrong: a lost job, a family breakdown, an illness, an addiction.
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something → start → people
Or often, several blows come all at once.
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blows → come → ?
And when the systems that are meant to help can’t cope, people fall through.
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people → mean → ?
And for too many, homelessness doesn’t end quickly.”
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homelessness → end → many
Billions earmarked to end crisis
The Liberals have earmarked $6.5 billion to keep veteran’s housed, $5.5 billion to renew the Canada Housing Benefit that provides monthly rental assistance to low-income Canadians, $10 billion to support the construction of about 25,000 supportive and transitional homes across the country, $5 billion to build facilities that bring together housing, health care, mental health and addictions treatment, and other social services, and $2 billion to build new mental health and addictions treatment facilities and refurbish existing ones.
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that → earmark → ones
On Sunday, Carney shared a news headline to his X account about the federal budget’s plan to end homelessness.
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Carney → share → homelessness
“In Canada, we take care of each other,” he captioned the image.
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he → take → image
However, many reacted online by pointing out that the Liberals have been in power for more than a decade and have had shown very little success on that front.
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Liberals → react → front
And you’re posting a headline asking for 10 more years to sort it out?” responded Neil G. Oberman, a Montreal lawyer and former Conservative Party candidate.
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Oberman → post → it
“You advised (former Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau.
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You → advise → Trudeau
Now you’ve got his job.
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you → get → job
Who exactly are you waiting for to fix this?
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you → wait → this
How did his plan to end homelessness in Vancouver work out?
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plan → end → Vancouver
Robertson, who currently serves as the Minister of Housing in Carney’s government, was elected mayor of Vancouver in 2008 by campaigning on ending homelessness on city streets by 2015.
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who → serve → 2015
In 2010, Vancouver’s unhoused population showed a 9% increase two years later when 1,715 homeless people were counted, and a 70% increase in individuals using shelters, according to city numbers.
uncertain
people → show → numbers
At the end of Robertson’s time as mayor, in 2018, the city count showed 2,181 people were homeless, with 1,522 sheltered and 659 living on the street.
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659 → show → street
Since then, the homeless population grew to 2,715 people by 2025, with 1,952 sheltered and 763 living on Vancouver streets.
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763 → grow → streets
Some pointed out that no country in the world has eradicated homelessness while others suggested recent immigration increases have affected housing availability and affordability.
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increases → point → availability
“Imagine how colossally stupid you have to be to make a claim like this,” wrote one commenter.
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commenter → imagine → this
As of Wednesday, Carney’s message has received more than 3,600 mostly negative responses while hundreds more quoted his post.
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message → receive → post
While organizations like the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness are cautiously optimistic about the Carney plan, researchers at the Institute for Research on Public Policy, a Montreal think tank, said the federal government can’t end the crisis by itself.
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government → say → itself
“Effective implementation will determine the government’s success or failure on homelessness,” researchers wrote in the organization’s Policy Options magazine.
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researchers → determine → magazine
“As with most things coming out of the Carney government, the programs will need to roll out fast to spend the billions of dollars earmarked for the 2027-2028 fiscal year.
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programs → come → year
Doing that effectively will be challenging.
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Doing → do → that
The Liberal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sought to significantly reduce homelessness, but the number of people without a home increased in most parts of Canada since then.
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number → seek → Canada
Researchers said affordability and housing experts have recommended governments increase income support, build more non-market housing, and fund wraparound supports for those experiencing homelessness.
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governments → say → homelessness
However, it remains to be seen if the money and efforts are enough to end homelessness within the next 10 years.
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money → remain → years
“Canada has been falling behind on homelessness and food insecurity for some time.
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Canada → fall → time
At the very least, these budget measures could help to reverse these trends in the coming years,” researchers said.
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researchers → help → years
“But people will still fall through the cracks.”
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people → fall → cracks
The Aporia
