How To Reduce Homelessness In Canada

Today's world is cruel and cold. Not so long ago, young people imagined an egalitarian society where men and women wouldn't be limited by money or possessions. A world of peace and abundance where nobody would be left behind. Unfortunately, the future is here, and it looks bleak. We live in a world still plagued with wars, diseases, greed and poverty. In 2015, we are confronted with the harsh realities of the traditionnal economy in which we live. Homelessness is one of those problems, and it does not just hurt a couple of unprivileged souls but the whole of society and our economy.
Many people think homelessness is rare and only touches certain kinds of individuals. However, it is far more common than people believe and it touches almost every
group of the North American's population. In Montreal alone, according to a census carried out by the I Count Montreal project, there are over 3000 homeless people residing in shelters and, for the less fortunate, on the streets. The City of Montreal recently conducted a study and roughly estimated the proportion of men and women to be around 76% male and 24% female. They've tracked people of all ages, starting below 30 years old, followed by the 31 to 49 years old category and then the above fifty years old group. Respectively in order, they amount for 19%, 39% and 41% of the homeless population. Even children are touched by this problematic, as 10% of the women who demand assistance in shelters have one or many child. Furthermore, according to Old Brewery Mission's 1998 statistics on homeless establishments on the island of Montreal, roughly 28 000 people visited shelters and other non-profit organizations like soup kitchens. Finally, they estimate that throughout Canada, on every given night, there are 30 000 people with no stable housing. The numbers go even higher when we count the people they classify as hidden homeless (''couch-surfers''), who require friends and relatives' assistance because they have nowhere else to go. Therefore, if we extrapolate to other more populated cities like Toronto and Vancouver, we can understand how many people it affects and how it touches every group of the population.
Homelessness also puts a big strain on our economy.
The main cause being the rising cost of housing and the obselete rent system still in place. According to Old Brewery Mission, chronic homelessness costs $1.1 billion dollars to Canada every year, because inappropriate housing is linked to other problematics such as the rise in crime levels. Thus, it affects the carceral system, where overcrowding is already an issue. Also, the rent system in place is obselete. The government of Quebec should have the power and the resources in place to further lower the cost of cheap housing. This would allow the economically disadvantaged to free themselves from the circle which ultimately leads to homelessness. They should also build housing flats and subsidize local investment into poor communities to completely eliminate this condition. The best example of this is in Russia, where, during the communist era, the Soviet government built thousands and thousands of low-cost housing flats in nearly every city. By doing so, the government and the other aformentioned institutions could focus their money and their resources into other projects, which would leave everyone better off. Previously homeless people could reenter the community and become useful workers again, which would spare the government of this economic
burden.
In conclusion, we can say that homelessness is one of the biggest problems of our generation because it affects nearly every age group of both genders and puts a leash on the economy. Maybe one day, legislations will change and become more centered around the fulfilling of basic human needs and fundamental rights, rather than giving the power to greedy companies and wealthy owners