Can the Carney government end homelessness?
asserted
government → end → homelessness
This isn't the first time a government has embraced an ambitious goal around the issue
Mark Carney is not the first prime minister to embrace an ambitious commitment about homelessness.
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Carney → embrace → homelessness
He is not even the first prime minister to do so in the last 10 years.
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He → do → years
In 2017, Justin Trudeau's government released its national housing strategy.
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government → release → strategy
As part of a broader plan for housing, the Trudeau government set a goal of reducing "chronic" homelessness by half over the subsequent decade — at the time, an estimated 25,000 people were said to be chronically homeless.
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people → set → time
Three years later, in a speech from the throne, the Trudeau government went further, stating that it was now focused on "entirely eliminating chronic homelessness in Canada."
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it → go → Canada
However worthy the goal, and whatever efforts the Trudeau government put toward achieving that goal, it was not met.
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it → put → goal
A progress report released by the federal government last December acknowledged that there had been a 34 per cent increase in chronic homelessness among shelter users between 2016 and 2024.
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report → release → 2024
Carney has committed himself to a more ambitious target — putting Canada on a path to end all homelessness within 10 years.
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Carney → commit → years
Audio
Can Canada end homelessness in the next 10 years?
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Canada → end → years
'Absolutely' possible: Vancouver, Victoria mayors back Ottawa's bid
Montreal mayor endorses PM's plan to end homelessness
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mayor → back → homelessness
This is a hard problem," Carney said in Winnipeg last week.
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Carney → say → Winnipeg
"And hard problems demand the humility to learn from previous well-intentioned efforts that have fallen short.
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that → demand → efforts
And it demands the resolve to build on what's succeeded."
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what → demand → resolve
Homelessness is hardly a new problem, but it was in the wake of the pandemic that homelessness came to the fore as a visible and salient concern in communities across Canada — exemplified by the issue of encampments in public places.
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homelessness → come → places
A national homelessness enumeration in 2025 found that more than 65,000 people were homeless on a given night in Canada, a 59 per cent increase over five years.
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people → find → years
The share of unhoused people living in unsheltered locations, including encampments, had also increased from 23 per cent to 27 per cent.
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share → live → cent
The underlying factors that might have contributed to the current situation are numerous and thorny: a longstanding lack of government funding for new social housing, an insufficient supply of rental housing, the disruption of the pandemic, the post-pandemic spike in inflation and the increasing cost of living, the opioid epidemic.
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that → underlie → living
"It was on a rapid but slow burn from 1995 and then it hit 2018, 2019 and the housing crisis, pandemic, affordability crisis, toxic drug supply — all came together to create the problem we're seeing today," said Tim Richter, president and CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness.
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Richter → hit → Homelessness
In the face of a problem that was driven by overlapping crises and challenges, the Trudeau government's actions obviously weren't enough to solve the problem.
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actions → drive → problem
Nick Falvo, a researcher and consultant who focuses on homelessness, said the national housing strategy lacked an emphasis on supportive housing — "deeply subsidized housing with a lot of social work support."
Richter says the Trudeau-era plan failed to create enough deeply affordable housing of the sort that people on income-support programs could afford.
Carney's homelessness agenda
The Carney plan maintains two pieces of the Trudeau strategy.
As laid out in this month's budget, the Carney government plans to renew funding for the Canada Housing Benefit, a rent supplement for low-income Canadians.
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government → focus → Canadians
Both the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness and Falvo have argued that an expanded and better-targeted CHB could do even more to reduce homelessness.
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CHB → end → homelessness
The Carney government is also maintaining a program — Reaching Home — that provides direct funding to communities to support efforts to reduce homelessness.
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that → maintain → homelessness
On top of that the government is adding three capital funds: $10 billion for supportive and transitional housing, $5 billion for "integrated supports" projects and $2 billion for new health-care infrastructure.
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government → add → infrastructure
The government is also directing new funding to Build Canada Homes in hopes of boosting the construction of non-market housing.
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government → direct → housing
More broadly, the Carney government is talking about a "renewed partnership" with the provinces, one in which the federal government would provide funding for capital (i.e. building things), while the provinces would fund operations and services.
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provinces → talk → operations
One is they've set themselves a much bigger target," Richter said.
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Richter → set → target
"But they've also led with a major capital infusion.…
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they → lead → infusion
So their first steps are different than the Trudeau steps, which I think is important from a first-step point of view."
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I → think → view
The challenge that Falvo sees is operational funding — the ongoing expenses that provincial governments will have to be willing to cover.
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governments → see → that
"I would say [the Carney government's plan] was a very impressive down payment.
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plan → say → ?
It showed great leadership," Falvo said.
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Falvo → show → leadership
"I'll be very interested to see what happens with the provinces."
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what → see → provinces
The federal government has at least already found one province that was eager for a renewed partnership.
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that → find → partnership
In Manitoba, the Carney government committed $800 million toward the construction of 2,000 supportive and transitional homes and $200 million toward a new centre for mental health and addictions.
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government → commit → health
The province will provide funding for the operation of both and cover half of the cost of constructing the centre.
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province → provide → centre
'Canadians want to do something'
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Canadians → want → something
In Winnipeg, Carney acknowledged that governments have spent "decades" trying to address homelessness.
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governments → acknowledge → homelessness
But, he said, "too often those efforts have been inadequately resourced, poorly co-ordinated and not sustained."
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efforts → say → ?
Richter co-authored a proposal earlier this year for a new national accord on housing, which would align all levels of government on solving the larger crisis of housing availability and affordability.
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which → co → availability
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
