Fort McMurray reports progress with reducing homelessness

Partnerships between a number of social agencies that deal with homelessness and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is paying dividends.

In 2018, the overall number of homeless people in Fort McMurray was pegged at 200. That number is now 152, according to the RMWB's most recent point in time homeless count in October. 

About a third were living unsheltered in streets, parks, encampments and vehicles. Seven per cent were staying in encampments during the night of the count.

About half of Fort McMurray's homeless population were in emergency shelters, nine per cent were experiencing hidden homelessness, like couch surfing, and seven per cent were in transitional housing.  

According to officials, the city achieved considerable success in dealing with unsheltered homelessness, or people who are living on the streets. 

"We're down to three people in three encampments downtown. That's three people. You heard that right," Wood Buffalo Mayor Sandy Bowman said in a speech last month. 

Partnership between agencies

The municipality and RCMP have started to work on removing the remaining encampments.

"The organizations that serve individuals are meeting them where they're at, and they're working with the RCMP and bylaw so that it is a safe situation, but that also the trust is built from the beginning," said Janelle Fleury, manager of community partnerships and initiatives at RMWB. 

"Nobody is removed from an encampment unless they have housing to go to, or they're relocating. And so by doing that, that has allowed us to effectively minimize the visible, unsheltered homelessness," Fleury said. 

Supportive housing part of the strategy

Jo-Anne Packham, executive director of the Wood Buffalo Wellness Society which runs the Indigenous permanent supportive housing program Tawâw, says housing with intense supports is "absolutely integral" in tackling homelessness.

"You can't separate out the chronic health conditions, the mental health concerns and the addictions from homelessness, and expect that you're going to have a positive result by very passively addressing those in a soft way," Packham said. 

In August 2023, the society helped the municipality and RCMP in dismantling an encampment on Morrison Street in Fort McMurray. The society helped house 28 people, by accepting 20 people into its programs, and referring eight more to other housing agencies. 

Tawâw currently houses 14 people. 

Packham said because the program is built around Indigenous cultural practices and understanding barriers. 

"We work to address those barriers and in a very trauma-informed scope and lens, and also very much focusing on accountability and daily accountability," Packham said. 

She would like Tawâw's capacity to increase. 

"While we may have a dip within our community in homelessness rates, we are absolutely not out of the woods yet," she said. 

Provincial funding concerns 

Fleury said the municipality is concerned about a funding change being introduced by the province which could disrupt the delivery of services to Fort McMurray's homeless population.

Under the current model, Fleury said funding is through municipalities but the province announced last December that frontline service providers would be funded directly. 

"This carries a risk," she said.

"We're dealing with our most vulnerable people. So any change to that system has a risk of disruption." 

The new funding model will be introduced in Fort McMurray on April 1.

In a statement to CBC News, seniors, community and social services ministry spokesperson Ashley Stevenson said the amount of funding remains the same, and that "it makes more sense for the province to administer provincial homelessness funding, rather than municipalities, to ensure better co-ordination." 

She said the provincial government is working with Fort McMurray and the RMWB to ensure there are no disruptions for people experiencing homelessness in this city.