Federal government pledges $6M over 5 years for Yellowknife homeless programs

The federal government has promised to spend $6 million over the next five years to support programs helping people experiencing homelessness in Yellowknife.

The money is going to programs like Housing First from the Yellowknife Women's Society, the YWCA's housing first for families, and the Sidedoor's rapid rehousing for youth program. 

"The housing-first programs have shown success," said Yellowknife mayor Rebecca Alty. "But without that funding where does that leave the programs?" 

"It's great to have another five years of funding, to have an increase in funding and to be able to provide roofs over people's heads."

While Alty says these programs are helping get people off the streets, she says there's still a lot of work to be done to meet the city's 10-year plan to end homelessness, which started in 2017. 

Between April 22-23, 2018, 338 people were found to be without "stable, permanent and appropriate housing," according to a point-in-time count from the city. Nearly one-third of those counted were younger than 18. 

"If we can address the issue of housing, [we'd] probably solve 50 per cent of our social issues," MP Michael McLeod told reporters Thursday after announcing the planned spending. 

"Studies have shown there's a direct connection to the two," he said. 

Along with the three existing programs in Yellowknife, Alty says there's still money left over to spend on other programs to address homelessness.

The money comes from the federal government's Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy. It's part of a federal plan to cut Canada's homeless population in half by 2027-28.