Housing & Homelessness

Housing is on the front-line in the fight to stop the spread of Covid-19. The crisis has exposed deep inequalities and wide-ranging vulnerabilities in housing; you can’t stay at home if you don’t have one.

In Saskatchewan, housing insecurity is a growing concern and a serious reality for many people.

Each year in Canada, 250,000 people (1) find themselves experiencing homelessness. On a given night, approximately 35,000 people experience homelessness, sleeping in shelters, while many more sleep in overcrowded conditions or on the couches of family or friends.

People who find themselves homeless or at risk of homelessness, including those housed in systems (such as prisons, health care, etc) are especially vulnerable to the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have witnessed creative community-led responses – such as improving access to hygiene, providing immediate, temporary shelters for those who otherwise have no way to self-isolate, and providing alternative housing to those in need. Yet gaps remain.

‘No more options’: Government housing needed for Saskatoon homeless during COVID-19

Social distancing creates problems for housing released Sask. inmates

North Saskatchewan communities set up Covid-19 command centre due to government ‘negligence’

The COVID-19 pandemic reinforces the impact of housing on health, and underscores the urgent need to tackle the growing issue of homelessness and precarious housing in Saskatchewan. That includes identifying root causes.

The time is now to support communities in preventing and ending homelessness while promoting safe, affordable, appropriate and adequate housing for individuals and families.

Let us advocate for evidence-based solutions. Support these action plans and be part of collaborative solutions. The most effective public health plan we have is to ensure housing for all people.

We must meet the immediate housing needs exposed during the crisis and recognize the need to support long-term evidence-based solutions post-pandemic.