Moncton shelter use down, need for affordable housing up

While fewer homeless people used the two shelters in Moncton in the past year, a new report from the Greater Moncton Homelessness Steering Committee has found those who are homeless are having a more difficult time finding a permanent place to live.

There hasn't been a huge investment in subsidized and affordable housing for a long time ... it hasn't kept pace with the need and so it's really a situation of catch-up here in Moncton.- Darcy Cormier

Darcy Cormier, a community development co-ordinator for the committee, said that on the surface the drop of four per cent in the number of people admitted to shelters is good news.

It's gone from 759 individuals in 2016 to 729 in 2017, Cormier said, but the people who are still using shelters are having a "harder time moving on."

"They're staying longer and they're returning more often, so that shows that although there's an improvement in the number of people who need to come, the issue is deepening for those who have to access shelters," Cormier told Information Morning Moncton.

According to the report the average stay at a shelter increased from 6.07 days in 2016 to 8.48 days in 2017.

Cormier said the vacancy rate for rentals in Moncton is 4.5 per cent, which is the lowest since 2011.

With little supply, it is difficult to make the argument that landlords should lower rents, so there is an increased demand for affordable housing.

"That really puts some increased pressure on those affordable units," Cormier said. "Unfortunately, we've also seen a stagnation of the income assistance rates for single people."

Challenges on social assistance

Cormier points out that the average rent for a bachelor apartment in Moncton is $584 per month. A single person who depends on income assistance receives $537 per month.

"It's necessary for them to have a subsidized unit or to go to a rooming house for the most part."

The report also found that the Moncton area continues to see an increase in the number of people receiving income assistance. In 2017, there was an increase of five per cent in Moncton, which is above the provincial average of two per cent.

Cormier said 37 new subsidized housing units have been added in Moncton through New Brunswick Housing, but it is still not enough to meet the need.

For single people who are not elderly, the waiting list for an NB Housing unit has increased 23 per cent in the past year, making it the longest waiting list in the province.

"There hasn't been a huge investment in subsidized and affordable housing for a long time ... it hasn't kept pace with the need and so it's really a situation of catch-up here in Moncton," Cormier said.

The other challenge people in the city face is the loss of three derelict rooming houses in the past year, which were torn down.

"Not that they were great places to live and certainly many were unsafe but for many individuals it's all they could access at the time. And without those it's ... increasing pressure as well. "

Cormier hopes that in the future, groups can work together to support people who have to find a new place to live quickly.

Moncton's two homeless shelters are House of Nazareth and Harvest House, which have 30 beds each.