Report of the Greater Toronto Area Homelessness Action Task Force
(The Anne Golden Report)

We welcome Dr. Golden's report. It gives governments and Canadians - for the first time - a comprehensive overview of a deeply troubling and growing problem. One that is on the rise not only the GTA, but communities right across Canada.

The government shares the Task Force's concerns. That is why we provided $300,000 to support its work - more than half of the Task Force budget. We will study its findings and recommendations with great interest and care.

Homelessness is a complex problem that involves not only housing, but related community based supports and services. It will be solved only through cooperative effort and long-term partnerships - among governments, community groups, the voluntary sector and the private sector.

We are committed to building new partnerships and strengthening existing ones.

We have been working on solutions for some time with the provinces and local communities:

• Last month we announced an additional $50 million for this fiscal year for housing renovations aimed at low income Canadians and the homeless.
• This new funding is on top of the $250 million that we announced last year to support renovation programs over the next five years. 
• The Government of Canada currently spends some $2 billion a year on social housing across the country. 
• The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's (CMHC) Canadian Centre for Public - Private Partnerships developed 2,600 affordable housing units in 1998. 
• Another 3,000 are in development. CMHC's Home-Grown Solutions is helping local communities find creative ways to meet their housing needs. 
• We have also developed specially targeted social housing support for Aboriginal Canadians on reserves, and have allocated almost $180 million through our Gathering Strength initiative to support community based aboriginal housing solutions.
• Under the Youth Employment Strategy we have allocated $50 million this year, $75 million next year and $100 million in every year thereafter for the development of programs aimed at youth at risk, including homeless youth. 
• To supplement existing shelter space, we have made the Fort York Armoury in Toronto available. 
• National Defence will make additional facilities available as required on an emergency basis across Canada. 
• To support work like that of the Golden Report, CMHC is funding research on homelessness that promotes sharing of ideas, data collection and the promotion of best practices.

In addition to this targeted effort, the Government of Canada helps the provinces and territories pay for social assistance, health care and education through the Canada Health and Social Transfer - $25.9 billion this year.

And through the new National Child Benefit we will be investing an additional $1.7 billion annually to help children in low income families by July, 2000.