A ride with the Saskatoon Fire Department shows how big the problem is
The number of homeless people in Saskatoon is going up because inflation and rising costs of living are making already poor people even poorer.
On January 27, CBC went with Assistant Chief Yvonne Raymer of the Saskatoon Fire Department as she checked on people who were outside around the city. On that day, the temperature stayed between –20 C and –25 C, but the wind chill made it feel as cold as –31 C.
“In 56 of our 66 neighborhoods, we have met people who don’t have a place to live.” It’s across town, “Raymer said.
She said that the fire department takes a “proactive approach” and regularly checks in with people who are not in a shelter or permanent housing to find out why they are not there. Raymer said that this happened about 600 times in December alone.
She said that some people don’t want to go to shelters.
Raymer said, “There are many reasons, but often it’s because they are so deep in their addictions that the idea of going to shelters where they can’t use drugs is scary.”
The justice ministry says that 55 people died of suspected drug overdoses in Saskatchewan last month. This is six more than in January 2022.
Raymer said that other problems that people often face are anxiety and problems with their mental health. Another common problem is losing your identification.
“Another problem we’ve found is that most government services are in the downtown area,” she said. “I hear them say that they don’t want to go downtown where people wear business suits because they’ll be judged or embarrassed.”
Raymer said that the fire department’s in-person checks help prevent fires like the one that started in 2021 when a homeless person used a barbecue to keep warm. Nobody got hurt, buta garage was destroyed.
Raymer said that these fires can happen when someone is in a house with no utilities and tries to warm up by starting a fire.
“Everyone has a different idea of what housing is.
As night fell, the shelters Raymer showed CBC had long lines of people waiting outside in the cold until seats opened up. Some shelters had people pushing their things in carts up to them.
Raymer and her team went around St. Paul’s Hospital once. She said that people who don’t have a place to stay warm often try to do so in places like the hospital loading dock and the back service entrance.
A woman in a light blue jacket and no gloves sat on the hospital’s icy sidewalk under a steam exhaust. Several bags were all around her. The fire crew offered to help her, but she said she would stay with people instead.
“Everyone has a different idea of what housing is,” Raymer said.
In the middle of the night, there was a makeshift camp made of blue plastic sheets in an alley behind The Lighthouse Supported Living. It was next to an open junction box in the corner of the contractor’s parking lot. They were told that six people had stayed there the night before.
When Raymer talked to staff at the lighthouse, they told him that the shelter was full.
“I will never tell anyone to live in these kinds of places.” When it’s supposed to go until -40, “the staff” says it’s not safe.
The income support program in Saskatchewan makes things worse
Len Usiskin, the head of Quint Development Corporation, said that even though new shelters have opened, the city’s homeless problem is still getting worse.
The new emergency health center in the city’s Fairhaven neighborhood has been the center of a lot of attention.capacity since it opened.
Usiskin said that more than 80 people used the warm-up spot at Station 20 West over the last weekend.
“When people come here, they are so desperate that it’s hard to believe.” When we close our doors, we often wonder where those people go. “A lot of people have nowhere to go during the day,” he said.
Usiskin said that the increase in food, rent, and utility costs has not been matched by an increase in the amount of money people get from the government.
Using a recent Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation report as an example,reportUsiskin said that the average rent for a purpose-built two-bedroom apartment in Saskatoon is $1,243, which is a 3.4% increase from last year.increase from 2021.
“Many low-income renters find it hard to find affordable housing, and only 7% of Saskatoon rentals are affordable for them,” he said. “One mistake is all it takes for someone to lose their home or be on the street.”
Usiskin said that since the Saskatchewan Income Support program started and the government stopped paying rent and utilities directly to landlords and utility companies, the number of people who are in bad debt and moving out has gone up dramatically.
“All of this is making it hard for people to find homes in our city. “It’s terrible,” he said. “This year is so much worse and has never happened before.”
Usiskin said that evictions and homelessness are caused by a lack of investment in affordable housing and the way the income support program is set up.
Between April 1, 2022, and January 27, 2023, landlords who wanted to get rid of their tenants were given 1,960 writs of possession by the Office of Residential Tenancies. This office is in charge of hearings between landlords and tenants about evictions.
It gave out 172 writs of possession in December 2022, and 58 of them led to the sheriff’s office evicting someone.
By January 27, 2023, 145 writs of possession had been given out since the year began.
Rent arrears drive eviction
Associate professor of law at the University of Saskatchewan, Sarah Buhler, has been reading eviction decisions from 2020 and 2021.
“When it comes to evictions, landlords win most of the time.” “In Saskatchewan, rent arrears or not paying rent is the main reason why people are kicked out of their homes,” she told me.
She said that in 2020 decisions, the tenant didn’t show up to more than 60 percent of the hearings. She said this was because the technology and transportation weren’t easy to use.
Buhler said that research from other places shows that people of color, young people, and women are more likely to be evicted than others.
“In Saskatchewan, more women than men are being kicked out of their homes,” she said.
“It’s against international human rights law to kick someone out of their home and make them homeless.” I think this should be written into our local laws. People’s economic and social well-being are hurt by evictions for a long time.”
She said that evicting tenants should be thought about in terms of “justice and equity.” She gave the example of a person who was kicked out of their apartment even though they were only $5 behind on their rent.
“A lot of Saskatchewan evictions are caused by the lack of affordable housing.” “That should be different.”