For Immediate Release
Ottawa, ON: January 5, 2016 –Today, the Government of Canada announced its plans for a broadly coordinated point-in-time count of homelessness in partnership with 30 communities across the country. This survey is an effort to gather information about Canada’s homeless population in participating communities so that all levels of government can identify the needs and required resources. It also provides the federal government with data that would inform the development of a strategy to address homelessness.
“It is certainly important that the federal government support this kind of community-based survey that will provide helpful data on homelessness in Canada,” says Darlene O’Leary, Socio-economic Policy Analyst with Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ). “It is our hope that this data would be used in the development of a comprehensive plan to end poverty in Canada which would include an affordable housing strategy,” something CPJ has called for over the past several years through the Dignity for All Campaign. “This point-in-time count will be a key component of the Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy. This strategy was identified as a priority commitment of this government in the Prime Minister’s mandate letter to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Jean-Yves Duclos.”
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Contact: Brad Wassink, Communications Coordinator, Citizens for Public Justice, at 613 232-0275 x.225 or brad@cpj.ca.
