Edmonton's homeless plan surpasses target

Nearly 1,800 homeless people in Edmonton have found a place to live in the first three years of the city's 10-year plan to end homelessness.

The 1,789 homeless who now have housing is two-and-a-half times what the Edmonton Homeless Commission had hoped.

"The beauty of this is the people you help," Mayor Stephen Mandel told supporters of the project Thursday. "The almost 1,800 people who started their lives, who are contributing to their families, who are joined back up with their children, who are now living a full life as part of our city."

The commission is also encouraged that 85 per cent of those with new homes continue to live in them.

Three-quarters of the 1,237 units being used to house the homeless are spread across the city in the private rental market, thanks to partnerships with landlords, said the commission.

Another 319 new units are completed or under construction.

However the commission warns funding is becoming an issue in the fourth year of the project.