Canada News
Government of Canada launches call for innovative concepts to prevent and eliminate homelessness
Every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home.
Today, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Ahmed Hussen, launched a call for concepts for innovative projects to prevent and eliminate homelessness under the Community Capacity and Innovation stream of Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy.
The Government of Canada is providing approximately $6 million over three years, starting in 2021–22, for scalable projects that will test and develop new and innovative approaches to addressing homelessness in communities across the country.
Project concepts must address at least one of the following three priorities:
- Testing or developing interventions for specific populations, such as Indigenous people, youth, seniors, LGBTQ2, women fleeing violence, veterans, or Black and racialized Canadians.
- Developing strategic partnerships that contribute to community collaboration, increase capacity building within the homeless-serving sector, or build connections between sectors or different levels of government.
- Developing effective practices or innovative techniques to measure the scope of homelessness or address data gaps related to homelessness, including hidden homelessness.
Priority consideration will be given to large-scale multi-year projects, projects serving Indigenous communities and projects addressing homelessness in the territories.
Concepts can be submitted by completing a concept application form and submitting it via email to hkd-dci@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca by June 11, 2021. Concepts will be evaluated by a review committee, and selected applicants will be invited to submit full proposals for consideration in the summer.
Quotes
“Every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. Our government is committed to eliminating chronic homelessness in Canada and knows that this investment, through Reaching Home, will help identify innovative approaches and solutions to support communities across the country.”
– Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Ahmed Hussen
Quick facts
- Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy was launched in 2019. It supports the goals of the National Housing Strategy and aims to eliminate chronic homelessness nationally by 50% by 2027–28.
- Reaching Home is a community-based program that provides funding and support to urban, Indigenous and rural and remote communities to help them address their local homelessness needs.
- The Community Capacity and Innovation Stream of Reaching Home supports communities with the implementation of a coordinated access system and provides project-specific contributions to foster innovation in the homeless-serving sector.
Employment and Social Development Canada
