Check It Out: A look at homelessness and the working poor

By Joan Janzen

This was a funny post I discovered on social media. It read: To the lady who flipped me off when I honked at you, your phone probably isn’t on top of your car anymore.

Although many Canadians express warnings to the government in an effort to help prevent further losses, their endeavours are often ignored, much like the lady who forgot her phone on top of her car. One of those warnings expressed is the belief that proposed immigration targets will have a negative impact on housing costs.

A bank executive and chief economist expressed a caution at the National Bank of Canada, whose August memo pointed out the Liberals’ high immigration levels are creating a “record imbalance” between housing supply and demand.

Nevertheless, the Minister of Immigration insists the targets will be maintained or even raised, not cut. Meanwhile, numerous media reports have been “honking” out warning messages.

Several years ago, in July 2020, a CBC article by Catherine Tunney reported that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) didn’t know the whereabouts of 34,000 foreign nationals slated for removal. The article claimed CBSA was unaware of the whereabouts of two-thirds of the 50,000 enforceable cases in the agency’s inventory.

Even though the situation has clearly gotten out of hand, three years later, there is evidence that not much has improved. An August 2023 CIBC Capital Markets report estimated that Canada is undercounting the number of non-permanent residents living in the country by nearly one million.

In spite of all the honking and warnings being issued, a Global News article from August 2023 reported the Immigration Minister claiming Canada absolutely can’t build more houses without more immigrants.

Andrew Lawton interviewed Cosmin Georgia, host of the Daily Brief, who noted immigrants are moving to high-density areas, which brings a host of problems, including increases in the cost of housing and rent. “Yet we know there’s not enough houses being built,” he said.

Stats Canada showed that the most popular jobs for immigrants are service, healthcare and the fast food industry. “They aren’t coming here to build infrastructure,” Georgia reasoned. Stats Canada has also released data showing a severe labour shortage in the construction sector.

“Immigrants that came here before them (recent immigrants) are still looking for homes as well, and there’s nothing left for them,” Lawton said. “Immigrants now have to get full-time jobs and are in a position they didn’t expect to be in. As a country we should pride ourselves on providing a positive experience when they come to Canada. So making it worse is simply not the solution.”

So what is the solution? The situation has become so dire that an article by Quinn Patrick reported a Nova Scotia minister calling for residents to rent out extra rooms to combat the housing crisis. Another article by Sue-Ann Levy reported the Mayor of Toronto asking residents to house asylum seekers.

Not only does the housing shortage affect asylum seekers, it also has a negative impact on Canadian citizens. Since housing costs have doubled, it can take as much as 25 years to save up for a down payment. Consequently, it’s not surprising that criminals are becoming more brazen, like the recent incident in a small town in Saskatchewan where thieves stole a payloader and rammed it into a bank, using it to haul out the ATM machine.

According to a 2019 report to Parliament by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, homelessness likely affects 3,000 to 5,000 of Canada’s nearly 650,000 veterans. The report noted the issue is rooted in numerous concerns, including affordable housing shortages.

On her online show, Canadian Faytene Grasseschi reported on a growing problem in Canada - the working poor. The majority of those who are struggling with homelessness are people who have jobs but can’t find a place to stay that’s within their budget.

“You look at the ocean of need across Canada, and we all wonder what we can do,” Faytene observed. While the report by the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs emphasized the importance of community organizations stepping in to lend assistance, Faytene discovered two guys who decided to get involved, stepping forward to provide help for the homeless.

The two men named Stephen and Matt joined forces, raised some money, and erected a temporary emergency village outside the city hall in Halifax. They set up ice fishing tents in an effort to save lives during the cold winter months.

Stephen shared one story about meeting a construction worker in New Brunswick who heard about the new encampment. He asked Stephen if they had a place for him since he had been sleeping on the construction site. Unable to find affordable housing, he had contemplated walking off the edge of the building and committing suicide because he couldn’t handle it anymore. He was extremely grateful to be offered a warm place to stay and is just one of many of the working poor in Canada.

However, a recent headline gave us a glimpse into the future. The headline from an article by Lindsay Shepherd read, “Canada to import 1 million new permanent residents in 2025-2026”. One can’t help but wonder if more people coming to Canada means more votes for the government.

But Marc Miller, the Immigration Minister, did offer a faint glimmer of hope when unveiling an action plan. He said Canada’s immigration planning will now take into account housing, health care and infrastructure. Hopefully, those words translate into tangible action.

As we begin a new year, it’s important that we recognize the need to voice both our concerns and suggested solutions to our governing leaders, who are our “public servants.” As Andrew Lawton’s guest pointed out, “If you have more families coming than you have houses being built, you have a housing crisis.” Our public servants need to hear our simple yet logical evaluation of the situation in order to avoid a crisis.