Joint Statement on Increasing Encampment Evictions, Frostbite, and the Houselessness Crisis in Edmonton
September 26, 2024
We, the undersigned organizations, urgently call on all levels of government to protect the lives, well-being, and human rights of Edmontonians who are unhoused.
Since January 2024, the number of Edmontonians who are unhoused, staying in shelters, or living outside has risen steadily and alarmingly. The causes are numerous and include skyrocketing rent and grocery costs, lengthy waiting lists for affordable housing, and insufficient support for people with disabilities. A lack of housing options for those released from the criminal justice, healthcare, and addiction treatment systems has compounded the crisis.
The houselessness crisis is growing alongside the ongoing drug poisoning crisis, which has been a major contributor to the rising death toll among Edmontonians who are unhoused.
The government's response so far has been inadequate. Maintaining the status quo will not solve this growing problem.
“With winter approaching, Edmontonians who are unhoused face a worsening crisis. If nothing changes, the resulting harm will be catastrophic.”
In some cases, government actions have worsened the situation. Cuts to essential services, such as daytime outreach from the Bissell Centre, Boyle Street Community Services, and the Overdose Prevention Team, have deprived our unhoused neighbors of life-saving resources. The ongoing criminalization of people who use drugs stigmatizes and isolates them, instead of connecting them with life-saving health services.
Eviction-first responses to encampments have caused irreparable harm, including frostbite leading to amputations among Edmontonians experiencing unsheltered houselessness. The loss of belongings and security for this vulnerable community inflicts immense shame and harm, pushing people into hidden spaces—alleys and other areas where support services cannot reach them, placing their lives at even greater risk. This displacement also contributes to the spread of people who are unhoused across the city, heightening social tensions in suburban communities. While the voices of those with housing are often loud and heard, the voices of people who are unhoused remain marginalized and ignored. Encampment sweeps do not solve the issue; they merely displace people, without providing the support or housing they need.
With winter approaching, Edmontonians who are unhoused face a worsening crisis. If nothing changes, the resulting harm will be catastrophic.
We demand immediate and meaningful action from all levels of government, including the following urgent measures.
Government of Canada:
● Establish, implement, and fund a National Encampment Response Plan in accordance with the Federal Housing Advocate’s Final Report on encampments in Canada.
● Increase funding for affordable housing, Housing First, and permanent supportive housing in Edmonton, smaller municipalities, First Nations, and Métis settlements in central and northern Alberta to address the scale of the houselessness crisis.
● Raise the Canada Disability Benefit to $800 per month to provide adequate financial support.
Government of Alberta:
● Increase funding for affordable housing, Housing First, and permanent supportive housing, ensuring it matches the urgency and scale of the crisis.
● Address gaps in care and ensure housing programs are available for people leaving the criminal justice, healthcare, and addiction treatment systems.
● End the policy of cutting off income support benefits to any person who is remanded pre-trial due to being charged with an offence, or unable to work because of a condition of their release.
● Increase funding for safe consumption sites, including inhalation sites.
● Reinstate recently cut funding for essential services at Bissell Centre, Boyle Street Community Services, and the City of Edmonton’s Overdose Prevention Team.
● Increase AISH and Income Support benefits to lift people with disabilities out of poverty.
● Implement Edmonton’s minimum shelter standards.
● Implement rent and vacancy controls for private rentals.
● Open an accessible facility where unhoused people can securely store their personal belongings.
City of Edmonton:
● Update the Extreme Weather Policy to activate protections when temperatures drop to -10°C or lower with windchill. This includes:
○ Halting encampment evictions unless:
■ there is an immediate risk of harm that cannot be mitigated through the provision of services like bathrooms, water, warmth, waste disposal, and social or health
services outreach; and
■ peace officers or police have confirmed accessible shelter or housing and transportation are available.
○ Providing overnight access to city facilities and warming centres.
○ Expanding the availability of warming buses.
● Amend the Public Spaces Bylaw to suspend enforcement of anti-encampment and anti-loitering measures during extreme cold.
● Reinstate funding for Bissell Centre, Boyle Street Community Services, and the Overdose Prevention Team.
● Open an accessible facility where unhoused people can securely store their personal belongings.
Edmonton Police Service:
● Halt encampment evictions during extreme cold (-10°C or lower with windchill) unless:
○ there is an immediate risk of harm that cannot be mitigated through the provision of services like bathrooms, water, warmth, waste disposal, and social or health services outreach; and
○ police have confirmed accessible shelter or housing and transportation are available.
We cannot afford inaction. If governments at all levels fail to respond urgently, the consequences for our neighbors will be dire. We can’t wait for winter to be upon us to respond in a matter that ensures a commitment to supporting the safety, dignity and well-being of our city’s most vulnerable.
Signed:
National Right to Housing Network
Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness (ECOHH)
John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights