Homelessness

Resolution number
4
Whereas
  1. There is a national crisis of homelessness and lack of affordable housing;
  2. Immigrants, refugees and visible minorities face significant racism in the private housing market;
  3. In some large cities in Canada, newcomers make up a large portion of the shelter population;
  4. We deplore the "passing of the buck" by which different levels of government deny that newcomers' housing issues are their responsibility;
  5. Across the country income assistance rates are unrealistic in light of housing costs;
  6. There are many problems in accessing income support services across the country;
  7. We applaud the new southern Ontario project of issuing ID to assist claimants at port of entries in accessing services;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Write to the Federal Coordinator on Homelessness urging her to pay particular attention to the challenges facing homeless newcomers and especially newcomer families;
  2. Communicate with the Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada and join with them in calling on the federal and provincial governments to immediately start increasing the supply of social housing;
  3. Write to CIC urging that as part of the national strategy on homelessness:
    a) They implement information referral services at ports of entry to ensure that refugee claimants are not entering the homeless shelter system without appropriate resources to access the system and to ensure that a claimant's early months in Canada are the least traumatic possible and to ensure that they have an appropriate place to go when they leave the port of entry;
    b) They extend eligibility for ISAP services to refugee claimants;
  4. Write to provincial governments urging them to raise social assistance rates.
Subject
Housing
Working Group
Immigration and Settlement