Homeless numbers on verge of exploding, conference told

Front-line workers at a national conference in Calgary are predicting they will be trying to help increasing numbers of homeless people as the economy continues to sink.

"This is a stage of incredible crisis," said Beric German, a worker with Toronto's Street Health and a speaker at the housing and homelessness conference on Wednesday at the University of Calgary.

"The recession is going to change all of our lives in some fashion, and for people on lower income or become unemployed, this can mean homelessness."

'Now we're having homelessness … expanding exponentially. It could double. It could triple.' — Beric German, front-line worker

German said looming job losses in a country without adequate employment insurance, welfare, or a national housing strategy is potentially dangerous.

"We want to say while we are talking here in Calgary about a conference again about homelessness that now we're having homelessness … expanding exponentially. It could double. It could triple and this is a time for us to act."

German's prediction is echoed by those who live on Calgary's streets.

A man who identified himself only as Todd said he returns bottles to get by while bouncing between shelters and the streets. He said he believes the city and social agencies are in store for bigger workloads.

"The problem's getting bigger, and I think it's going to get bigger yet — the lack of employment," he told CBC News.

Feds asks provinces to match $2B investment

The three-day conference is bringing together more than 600 front-line workers, academics and policy-makers.

Diane Finley, the federal minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, reaffirmed the federal government's commitment of roughly $2 billion — already announced during the spring budget — as vital in renovating and building affordable housing.

"It will also create jobs, and we know that not only the direct jobs, but up to 80 per cent of the materials used will be Canadian-made and so that creates a lot of spin-off jobs as well," she said at the conference.

However, Finley asked the provinces to match the $2-billion investment in affordable housing.

Yvonne Fritz, Alberta's minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, said she won't know exactly how much the province will be able to match until the budget is released later this year.

The first national housing and homelessness conference was held in Toronto in 2005.