Northern Alberta town opens emergency shelter after years of lobbying

A new year-round temporary homeless shelter in northern Alberta is aiming to be a lifeline for the most vulnerable in the Slave Lake region.

Slave Lake's new emergency shelter opened last week and provides 20 spaces for people experiencing homelessness, according to a news release from the Alberta government Tuesday. 

The provincial government has put forward $730,000 for the municipality to operate the shelter. 

Temporary winter emergency spaces have been operating in Slave Lake since 2018.

While municipal leaders secure a permanent location for the shelter, the town has opened a temporary space in a trailer on vacant land to provide emergency spaces.

Mayor Francesca Ward said the need has been long-standing, and municipal leaders have been lobbying the provincial government for years. 

"Addressing homelessness has been something that has been downloaded, likely unintentionally, onto smaller municipalities to handle and to try and ensure the safety of our homeless population," said Ward in an interview. 

"It's very significant to us because that's a huge strain on resources."

Ward said there are specific challenges to providing support to people in rural communities who are homeless. 

"The harsh northern climate is a real thing up here, you have –40 C for multiple times on it, and there aren't buildings or places for people to go to, there isn't public transit stations that have been opened up, as you see in the larger cities," she said.

"So we do need space."

Ward says the community would like further support for detox and treatment facilities and culturally appropriate care. 

"There's a whole other challenge when it comes to that to providing trauma-informed care and taking care of our population," Ward said. 

Community consultation

Scott Sinclair, MLA for the Lesser Slave Lake riding, said a separate strategic commission will be formed to ensure proper consultation with the Indigenous communities.

"I'm from a rural community, and everything from our scope, it is different at times. Logistics is a big one," Sinclair said. 

"What you'll see out of possibly a community like Slave Lake is not just on homelessness, but we'll service the entire northern Alberta, that kind of area that covers us." 

Sinclair said the shelter opening is part of the bigger picture of initiatives like transitional housing for individuals with low income. The hope is that the shelter will bridge the gap in distance for people seeking services. 

The shelter is part of the provincial government's plan last October, which committed to an investment of $63 million over two years to fund projects to address homelessness.