Every year, hundreds of thousands of Canadians sleep under bridges, on street corners, and on the couches of friends and family. 

How do they self-isolate during a pandemic? 

Public health restrictions due to COVID-19 have forced shelters to close, limited the activities of street outreach teams, and tightened the incomes of people at risk of losing their homes. Canada has suffered from a dearth of affordable housing for years, but COVID-19 has raised the stakes. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plan to allocate a billion dollars for affordable housing projects across Canada is welcome news for organizations tackling homelessness. But some non-profit housing developers say they will still have a tough time launching new projects. 

The Rapid Housing Initiative, which the federal government announced on Oct. 27, offers a total of $1 billion to build up to 3,000 affordable housing units for vulnerable Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of that is being offered directly to municipal governments based on local rates of homelessness and “the level of renters in severe housing need,” according to the government’s announcement. Toronto alone will receive $203.3 million, while $51.5 million has been earmarked for Vancouver and $56.8 million for Montreal. 

Provincial, municipal, and Indigenous governments can also apply for the remaining $500 million to fund affordable housing initiatives. While sector professionals welcome the money, they suggest the RHI’s Major Projects stream is not necessarily feasible for smaller non-profit housing developers looking to launch a new affordable housing project from scratch. The RHI only gives organizations two months to apply and requires all projects to be built within a year. 

“The turnaround is so fast,” says Marika Albert, policy director for the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association. “This is going to benefit organizations that already have a plan in place to get their housing built.” RHI is focused on modular housing, where a home’s various components are pre-fabricated in a workshop and then quickly assembled at a construction site. Albert estimates that a modular building could be built in a few months, but points out that the process of securing suitable land could take a year. 

At least one housing developer says the federal funding doesn’t offer any money to address the underlying causes of homelessness such as substance use, intergenerational trauma, and economic impoverishment. Brian Howell, manager of River Bank Development Corporation, a non-profit housing provider in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, says he hasn’t considered submitting an application on behalf of his organization. Speaking as a member of Saskatchewan’s non-profit housing association, however, Howell suspects other non-profit housing providers in the province will seize on RHI as an opportunity. “I’m sure there will be applications but…it seems to be kind of missing part of what’s needed,” he says. 

Howell also pointed to the very tight timelines demanded in the RHI’s application process as a barrier, but he also says the funding doesn’t help address some of the underlying reasons behind homelessness. In Prince Albert and other parts of Saskatchewan, these include the racist mistreatment of Indigenous peoples for hundreds of years, along with drug use and relatively low local incomes. 

Giving homeless people a roof over their head is increasingly seen by the social impact sector as the most important first step to tackling homelessness — known as the ‘housing first’ approach.

Giving homeless people a roof over their head is increasingly seen by the social impact sector as the most important first step to tackling homelessness — known as the ‘housing first’ approach. Howell says it also needs to be followed up by long-term support services. Simply building homes and walking away doesn’t cut it. “This percentage of the population does not get a fair share of resources,” Howell says. He also points out that none of the Canadian cities selected to receive the RHI’s other $500 million in direct homelessness funding are in Saskatchewan, but says there is pre-existing provincial and federal funding that supports organizations tackling homelessness. 

One organization is already trying to help non-profit housing developers navigate the complex process of an RHI application. The Community Housing Transformation Centre, a non-profit that supports community housing projects across Canada, set aside grants of up to $50,000 for developers who want to apply to the RHI. “We know that organizations often struggle with the capacity to access grants like this due to the fact that they’re busy dealing with the day-to-day,” says Hope Jamieson, a Centre program manager.

The Centre’s grants will help organizations free up staff time internally or allow them to hire external consultants and ensure all of the paperwork for their RHI application is in order, Jamieson says. According to the RHI’s application page, that includes details on an organization’s internal structure and shareholders, confirmation that all zoning for a project has been approved, a detailed 12-month construction plan, proof that land has been secured (or will be shortly), and a slew of other requirements. 

“When you think about all of the documentation requirements in order to even apply in the first place, there is quite a bit of work that has to happen on that end,” Jamieson says. 

Jamieson says the Centre has received requests for help from organizations across Canada. She says the RHI, for all of its difficulties, represents a tangible step towards fighting homelessness that hasn’t been seen in a long time. It’ll allow organizations to receive desperately needed dollars and begin to triage the most urgent housing needs. 

“I think that 3,000 units is a huge contribution to what’s needed,” Jamieson says. “It’s not going to completely solve the problem of housing insecurity in our country, but it is a really meaningful step.”

Providing long-term community supports for the residents of these 3,000 units is crucial, Howell says. Many of these services already exist. Drug counselling and healthcare agencies are quite willing to work with housing providers, he says. Even something as simple as having a building manager who’s been homeless before and understands the situation of formerly-homeless tenants can be very helpful. 

Ultimately, Howell says, any housing program should be about providing a home, but also freedom and choice. “I don’t believe we should smother people with well-meaning service providers to the degree that they can barely breathe,” Howell says. “I think you should do what you need to so they can live what they would consider to be a decent life.”

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