New report confirms homelessness in the Sault is getting worse

A report recently presented to the local Social Services administration board shows that while a key funding program for homelessness services is facing cuts, the problem is becoming even more acute in Sault Ste. Marie.

Social Services in Sault Ste. Marie receives annual funding through the federal "Reaching Home" program, which has the stated goal of helping to reduce chronic homelessness nationwide by 50 per cent by the 2027 to 2028 fiscal year. 

One of the requirements of receiving that funding is to keep track of key homelessness objectives and reporting them. In the most recent Community Homelessness Report, the outcomes mostly show a problem that continues to worsen in the Sault.

"Homelessness is becoming more of a challenge and more prevalent in the community," said Mike Nadeau, CEO of the District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board, when speaking to SooToday about the report on Friday.

The five outcomes tracked locally since 2019 are: fewer people experience homelessness, fewer people were newly identified, fewer people return to homelessness, fewer Indigenous peoples experience homelessness and fewer people experience chronic homelessness.

In all but one category, the current state of homelessness in the Sault is worse than in the 2020-21 reporting year.

In 2020-21, 407 people were recorded as having experienced homelessness, versus 492 in 2023-24, the most recent year recorded. The report said 20 people returned to homelessness in 2020-21, versus 60 in 2023-24. 

The number of people experiencing chronic homelessness went from 48 in 2020-21 to a total of 128 in 2023-24. The number of Indigenous people experiencing homelessness almost doubled in that same time frame, increasing from 109 people to 225.

"The state of homelessness is just increasing in the community and that's affecting all people, but Indigenous people are over-represented," said Nadeau.

The only outcome that improved between 2020-21 to 2023-24 was "fewer people were newly identified," which went from 317 to 294.

At the same time the numbers in Sault Ste. Marie are going up, Nadeau said the DSSAB has received word the "Reaching Home" program funding will be cut locally by about 58 per cent in 2026. That will result in the DSSAB cutting five full-time equivalencies (jobs) in the homelessness prevention team and a cut of almost $670,000 that year from its current allocation. 

"So that's going to put further pressures and challenges on us," he said.

Contacted Monday afternoon, Sault MP Terry Sheehan has not yet responded to comment for this story.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer released a report in May that said for the federal government to achieve its target to halve chronic homelessness, it would require an additional $3.5 billion to be spent on the problem each year.

Nadeau said the federal government's plan to cut funding while the problem worsens in the Sault is counter-productive to that goal.

"Our teams and the community partners are working extremely hard to get people housed, but it is getting more difficult and more challenging," said Nadeau.