Lead Department: Human Resources and Social Development Canada
Start Date of the Horizontal Initiative: 1999
End Date of the Horizontal Initiative: March 31, 2007
Total Federal Funding Allocation: $784 million (grants and contributions funds only)

Description

In December 1999, the Government of Canada launched the National Homelessness Initiative (NHI), a three-year initiative with a budget allocation of $753 million to develop new programs and to enhance existing programs to address the homelessness crisis in Canada. In February 2003, the Government extended the NHI for an additional three years with a budget allocation of $405 million. In November 2005, the Government announced a one-year extension (2006-2007) of the NHI with a budget allocation of $134.8 million to sustain communities through investments in successful homelessness initiatives.

In 1999, the Government of Canada launched the NHI to assist communities in responding to the needs of the homeless population and those at risk of homelessness in Canada. The NHI makes strategic investments in community priorities and a planning process that encourages cooperation between governments, agencies and community-based organizations to find local solutions for homeless people and those at-risk. The NHI is designed to provide supports to 61 designated communities and some small, rural and Aboriginal communities to develop community-based measures that assist homeless individuals and families move toward self-sufficiency. Although the responsibility for homelessness programs falls under Human Resources and Social Development, most NHI program components are delivered by regional staff, now part of Service Canada.

The NHI will continue to:

• help communities build on their successes and focus on interventions to help prevent and break the cycle of homelessness;
• enhance the partnership approach with all levels of government and the private and voluntary sectors to strengthen capacity and build sustainability;
• carry out research to foster a better understanding of homelessness as well as collect and disseminate best practices to assist in designing the most effective responses. 

For more information, please visit the NHI website: http://www.homelessness.gc.ca

Shared Outcome(s)

Enhanced community capacity to contribute to the reduction of homelessness in Canada.

Governance Structures

The NHI's community-based program is delivered via two models:

• community entity model: Under this model, the Community Advisory Board recommends projects to the community entity (an incorporated organization) which is the decision-making body responsible for approving project proposals and determining the eligibility of projects. HRSD is responsible for managing the contribution agreement and all related activities. The community, in consultation with Service Canada, has designated responsibility for program delivery to a specific local organization.
• shared delivery model: Under this model, the Community Advisory Body reviews project proposals and makes recommendations to HRSD which manages the contribution agreement and all related activities. Both Service Canada and the community work in partnership to support funding priorities, resulting in a joint selection and decision-making process. The Minister approves the project proposals.

In Quebec, unlike other provinces and territories, two NHI components - the Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative (SCPI) and the Regional Homelessness Fund (RHF) - are delivered under a formal Canada-Quebec agreement, in collaboration with the Province Quebec.

The community entity model and the shared delivery model deliver the components of the NHI, specifically the SCPI, Urban Aboriginal Homelessness (UAH) and the RHF. In addition, regions are actively involved in setting the agenda of the National Research Program (NRP) and the delivery of Surplus Federal Real Property for Homelessness Initiative (SFRPHI).

Action for Neighbourhood Change (ANC) is a two-year action research initiative led by the Housing and Homelessness Branch (HHB), through its National Research Program (NRP), that examines how to further horizontal collaboration across government departments to increase the capacity and strength of distressed neighbourhoods.

SFRPHI is an NHI program co-managed by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) and Human Resources and Social Development/Housing and Homelessness Branch (HRSD/HHB), with advice and support from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Together, HHB and PWGSC submitted a Treasury Board submission to transform surplus federal property into facilities that serve homeless people or those at risk of homelessness and contribute to building a coordinated response to homelessness and housing challenges.

In coordination with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs' Urban Aboriginal Strategy (UAS), the HHB will explore new ways for federal departments to work in a complementary fashion to better meet the needs of urban Aboriginal people in the eight communities originally included in the UAS (i.e., Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and Toronto). In coordinating this program, emphasis is placed on culturally appropriate Aboriginal community-planning and decision-making processes where priorities have been identified in each of the eight pilot cities, to guide investments. UAS expanded its program to include four new communities: Prince George, Prince Albert, Thompson, and Lethbridge; SCPI partners in those communities have been asked to work collaboratively with local UAS partners.

Partners

Federal Partners:

• Health Canada
• Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada
• Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
• Public Works and Government Services Canada

Contact

Jim Young
A/Director of Corporate Affairs and Accountability
Housing and Homelessness Branch
165 Hotel de Ville, Phase II
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0J2
Telephone: (819) 956-6857
E-mail:
james.young@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca