Edmonton part of national study examining need for better data on homelessness

File photo of a homeless encampment in Edmonton. (CTV News Edmonton)

Some of Edmonton's social agencies gathered Thursday morning to discuss strategies for helping their homeless clients.

The forum was put on by Dr. Cheryl Forchuk, from Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University, who is studying homelessness across Canada.

She presented her team's preliminary findings after visiting 28 urban and rural centres, including an upward trend of homelessness and first-time homelessness in all locations during the pandemic.

Across the country, Forchuk also found there is inadequate data on rural and remote homelessness and that the rate of Indigenous homelessness more than triples in those areas.

Although Alberta was not unique in those ways, she did note two differences while in the province.

The first was that provincial government policy requires a person to have a residential address in order to receive income support, which she found makes it more difficult for Edmontonians to get off the street.

"It forces them into very vulnerable situations to have their basic needs met," Forchuck told reporters.

The second was a greater police presence.

"All the [interviews] we did in person, there was always police surveillance. Much more so than the other provinces. And we think it is because of the criminalization of the policy that relates to no income," Forchuk said.

The absence of thorough data is another great concern for Forchuk.

She and a team are working on an algorithm that would sort through health data collected by governments for indicators of homelessness, such as a missing home address. The goal is to use the algorithm for broader, more accurate and timely data than can be gathered through point-in-time counts.

"Who is homeless really dictates what the programs need to look like," she commented.

Most of Forchuk's findings weren't surprising to Colin Chong, who operates the Refuge Mission Foundation in Edmonton's McCauley neighbourhood. However, he appreciated the recognition that a one-size-fits all approach does not work.

"We have a level of support here that's much more looking for people that qualify for housing and the people that don't qualify are actually being left behind," he commented, noting there's not enough housing for people who do qualify.

"How do we deal with those different groups in a way that makes it useful for them, not for the people providing… is a big problem, too, in the sense of everybody being basically put in the same group of being homeless."

Representatives from Homeward Trust, E4C, Homes for Hero Foundation, the Today Centre, and CSS Edmonton also attended.

Forchuk says there is another 14 months of work left on her project and she will return to each of the 28 communities to share her conclusions.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson