Click on the Link Below for a Five (5) Page Document From the COH – Housed on https://www.homelesshub.ca/
https://www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/COHhomelessdefinition.pdf
Published: April 01, 2026 at 8:58PM EDT
https://www.ctvnews.ca/london/video/2026/04/01/ark-aid-to-slash-beds-hours-amid-1m-funding-shortfall
Ark Aid Street Mission is sounding the alarm a day after a federal homelessness program and city hall’s cold weather response ended.
Executive Director Sarah Campbell says the financial shortfall will exceed $1 million for the frontline agency, forcing several difficult but necessary service cuts for homeless Londoners.
It represents approximately one-third of their operational funding, and means essential services like meals, showers, clothing, washroom access, assessments, referrals, and system navigation will now rely entirely on donor support.
A total of 50 overnight spaces this winter (across three locations) will immediately cease.
The Ark had operated London’s only seven day-a-week open door emergency service outside regular business hours.
Services at 696 Dundas St. will be reduced from between 20 and 24 hours a day — to just four hours.
“We’re currently stepping everything down, starting with the night beds for winter. We will then reduce our daytime hours and by the end of the month, we’ll have just four hours each day,” Campbell explained.
Those remaining hours will be around dinner time.
“We have anywhere between 50 to 70 people through the doors at any one time, and on an average weekend we’re seeing 400 unique individuals come through our space because on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays there are no other open doors,” Campbell added.
Twelve referral organizations had been utilizing The Ark as a drop-off location for homeless individuals, including London police and local hospitals.
Campbell is disappointed that no other government funding was made available before the previous federal program expired March 31.
“If we have zero government dollars, how do we make sure that we show up for the people who need us, when they need us most?” she asked rhetorically.
Among the other services lost or significantly reduced:
“These are essential basic needs, but they’re also life saving activities,” Campbell explained. “We don’t allow any drug use on site, but we do have overdoses around our building regularly. In fact, we’ve responded to 29 overdoses just since January, so being present here is critical.”
Ark Aid Street Mission is issuing an urgent plea to donors and all levels of government.
“We would like the funding gap filled by the municipal government because that’s the [level of government] we can go to directly, but it’s not their responsibility alone,” Campbell told CTV News. “It was federal funding that had come to the municipality [that ended], so we’re advocating to all levels of government.”
Campbell worries that fewer services, resources and indoor spaces will lead to more suffering on the streets of London.
“I don’t think there’s a person in London who doesn’t know that this is a catastrophe,” she said.
The beds inside The Ark’s Cronyn Warner Shelter are not affected by the funding shortfall, but its funding is scheduled to expire in one year.
Editorial standards & policies
Estair Van Wagner said the letter of the law was followed in Mark Plank’s high-profile eviction case, but not the “human rights element.”
Michael John Lo
Apr 2, 2026 4:30 AM
Listen to this article | 00:04:54 Duration
The near-eviction of a 63-year-old Victoria renter due to missed rent-increase payments brings home the impact of treating housing “as a commodity instead of a home,” says a University of Victoria associate law professor.
Estair Van Wagner said the letter of the law was followed in Mark Plank’s high-profile eviction case, but not the “human rights element.”
“The process of eviction, whether or not it actually results ultimately in the loss of someone’s home, is really traumatizing,” she said in an interview. “We should be building a system where we avoid that at all costs.”
Plank was set to be evicted on Tuesday from his Cook Street Village apartment after he lost a Residential Tenancy Branch hearing that he did not attend.
The self-described computer illiterate had been sent a rental-increase notice, then an initial 10-day eviction notice, via email to an account he does not access without the help of others. His property manager started the eviction process the first month he failed to pay the $24 increase, though his rent payment at the original $828 rate was accepted.
Following advocacy from groups like Together Against Poverty Society and the Victoria Tenants Union, he was able to reach a last-minute agreement to stay in his home.
Van Wagner said many people in situations like Plank’s don’t have the knowledge or confidence to use existing legal protections to help their case. “People will leave at the first instance of being told that they’re evicted without exercising their rights,” she said.
Plank didn’t report the fact that his studio unit had leaky taps and a broken fridge out of fear of jeopardizing his housing, even though a landlord is required by law to fix those issues once they are made aware of them.
“We aren’t providing enough legal education and resources and advocacy to make sure that folks not only know their rights, but feel that they can exercise them,” Van Wagner said.
While the media can highlight cases of so-called “nightmare tenants,” there are more rental units that aren’t being kept to provincial standards than problem tenants, she said.
Ultimately, preventing evictions, particularly for seniors, those with disabilities and others who are vulnerable in society, is the best way to prevent the homelessness crisis in Victoria and elsewhere from getting worse, Van Wagner said.
“The infrastructure around dealing with homelessness is extraordinarily expensive, and it’s expensive both on a very practical level of emergency shelters and services … but also on the long-term health and mental-health impacts it has on folks,” she said.
Van Wagner said better funding of legal services like those offered by TAPS is a good first step.
TAPS lawyer Leila Geggie Hurst said demand for legal help with evictions is extraordinarily high in Victoria, noting her organization’s walk-in capacity for tenancy issues filled up within four minutes on Tuesday morning.
“There used to be a time in the distant past when if a tenant got an eviction notice, they were able to pretty quickly find housing and move elsewhere,” she said.
But now, tenants are more desperate and more willing to fight to stay in their housing because there are fewer affordable options, Geggie Hurst said, adding that the loss of housing often causes a “catastrophic spiral” in someone’s life.
Kaeley Wiseman, a professor at Vancouver Island University’s master of community planning program, said people often assume there’s a safety net for people who are living in aging, cheaper buildings and are displaced for various reasons.
“They assume that people like Mark [Plank] will then get picked up by the non-profit sector,” said Wiseman, who is also principal of Wiser Projects, a non-profit housing development consultancy.
But finding subsidized, non-market housing is getting more difficult “because this provincial budget has axed that safety net,” Wiseman.
Premier David Eby’s government retroactively clawed back hundreds of millions of dollars in the province’s Community Housing Fund in its latest budget, effectively stalling many affordable-housing projects across B.C., including on Vancouver Island, Wiseman said.
The funding crisis in the non-profit construction sector is likely to last for the next decade, and that’s not good when it takes eight to 10 years to build a publicly funded housing project in Canada, she said.
“You can imagine the competition for the units that we have built in the last 15 years … is going to be fierce.”
Wiseman said 15 per cent of housing available in Canada should be non-market, but the actual amount is only around three to four per cent.
“So by cutting all this stuff, Eby has undermined our entire province,” she said.
Life is a collection of chapters, and some of them are undeniably painful to read. There is a popular sentiment that offers profound hope: “Don’t give up because of one bad chapter in your life. Keep going. Your story doesn’t end here.” This wisdom acknowledges that struggle is a part of the narrative, but it insists that it is not the final page. It is a call for resilience, a reminder that identity isn’t fixed by moments of failure or despair.
However, if we apply this metaphor to the crisis of homelessness and addiction on our streets, we must ask ourselves: Are we helping people turn the page, or are we simply buying them a new bookmark while they remain stuck in the same chapter?
The current approach to homelessness is often too passive, too willing to enable stagnation. It can be patronizing to assume that someone in the throes of addiction or living on the streets doesn’t need a hard response. By removing all expectations—by offering housing without requiring sobriety or a commitment to rehabilitation—we risk telling people that they aren’t capable of more . We accept their bad chapter as the whole book.
We need a shift from a handout to a hand up. This means coupling compassion with accountability. It means recognizing that allowing someone to continue using drugs without intervention is not kindness; it is a slow form of surrender . A truly compassionate response says, “Your story doesn’t end in addiction, and it doesn’t end on this street corner.”
Programs that are beginning to see success are those that provide shelter and support, but also demand recovery and work . They enforce rules, ban public camping, and use the leverage of the law to nudge individuals toward treatment. This isn’t about punishment; it’s about instilling the self-worth that comes from meeting expectations .
If we want to help people write a better chapter, we must stop editing around the margins of their misery. We must provide the structure and the hard line in the sand that says giving up is not an option. Because their story—and ours as a community—doesn’t have to end there.
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Housing First is an established concept in Finland since more than 15 years thanks to the Y-Foundation as a pioneer. The Y-Foundation was also one of the founding members of the Housing First Europe Hub.
In 2016 the Finish Y-Foundation together with FEANTSA established the Housing First Europe Hub. The Y-Foundation has been a key player in establishing Housing First as the main response to homelessness in Finland. Since 2007 national policies shifted towards reducing long-term homelessness through Housing First programmes.
As a result, in Finland, the utilisation of emergency and temporary accommodations, such as shelters, hostels, and temporary supported housing, has significantly declined. The number of homeless individuals residing in hostels or boarding houses decreased by 76% from 2008 to 2017. This reduction is attributed to the widespread adoption of prevention strategies, the replacement of outdated models of communal supported housing with Housing First and housing-led approaches, which largely replaced emergency shelters.
ARA, the Housing Finance and Development Centre, has also been involved in the implementation of Housing First in Finland since the start through subsidising new and renovated homes as well as giving housing advice to municipalities.
As a result, Finland is one of the only European countries that registers decreasing homelessness numbers. The country’s goal is to end homelessness in Finland all together.
Finland has managed to reduce homelessness in recent years, but homelessness as a phenomenon is still alive and well. The homelessness situation often escalates in the context of social and economic crises.
Originally Published on https://housingfirsteurope.eu/country/finland/
Poor people in Canada pay for funerals through provincial social assistance programs (like BC’s Ministry of Social Development or Ontario Works), the federal Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Death Benefit.
Many today are choosing simpler, lower-cost options like direct cremation, with funeral homes often guiding families through these limited financial resources. Government aid covers basic services, but often falls short of average funeral costs, requiring families to supplement or choose minimal arrangements.
Work with Funeral Homes: Funeral directors are familiar with these programs and guide families to choose services within the available budget.
Ministry Pays the Funeral Home: If approved, the ministry pays the funeral home directly for approved services, which may cover cremation or burial and other basic costs.
Peace to All and Best Wishes to All in the New Year of Life and it’s passing encounters.
theurbansurvivor.org
The Homeless Prevention Program provides portable rent supplements and support services to individuals in identified at-risk groups facing homelessness.
The Homeless Prevention Program is an initiative aimed at providing individuals in identified at-risk groups facing homelessness with portable rent supplements and support services to help them access rental housing in the private (non-subsidized) housing market.
The rent supplements and support services help recipients access rental housing in the private (non-subsidized) housing market and community-based services.
The Homeless Prevention Program operates, in many instances, as an enhancement to the existing Homeless Outreach Program / Indigenous Homeless Outreach Programs and targets individuals at transition points that put them at greater risk of homelessness.
Cost: None. Services are free.
To be eligible, you (or someone you know) are at immediate risk of homelessness. This includes:
If you are eligible and approved, the rent supplement can assist with:
You cannot use the rent supplement for:
Please contact an outreach worker for full details. An outreach worker will be able to determine what you are eligible for.
Contact a Homeless Prevention Program Service Provider or go to the nearest Emergency Shelter and ask to speak to staff.
Outreach staff will ask a few questions about your situation and income to determine your eligibility.
Note: Rental supplements are intended to be temporary.
Originally published on the British Columbia Housing Program website.
Written by: Vikki Hopes
Feb 25, 2025 10:22 AM
Listen to this article by accessing the above player.
A 30-bed emergency shelter for older adults is being planned at Central Heights Church in Abbotsford.
The plan came before city council on Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 25), when a temporary-use permit and housing agreement were approved.
A staff report to council states that 30 individual “sleeping units” will be provided in an existing building on the church property at 1661 McCallum Rd.
That area at the north end of the building has been operating by Sparrow Community Services Society as a severe weather shelter for older adults.
A letter to the city from BC Housing in September 2024 states that in order to accommodate the emergency shelter, the building will be renovated to include sufficient washroom and shower facilities, accessible entry and operator spaces.
The space is expected to be completed this winter.
The Central Heights Church Shelter will continue to be run by Sparrow – which serves older adults (50+) who are at risk of homelessness – under an agreement with BC Housing.
Support services will be provided 24/7 under the Homelessness Encampment Action Response Temporary Housing (HEARTH) and Homelessness Encampment Action Response Team (HEART) programs.
The staff report to council says a temporary-use permit was required to accommodate the proposed use as it abuts an existing residential use.
The permit will be valid for three years, with the opportunity to request one three-year extension.
The housing agreement includes that the operators must form a good neighbour committee with monthly meetings for the first four months and then on an as-needed basis.
The operators must also provide support services – directly or through referrals – such as life-skills training, counselling and substance-use services.
They must also at least have two staff on site 24/7, and ensure that guests “do not disturb the peace, quiet and enjoyment of the neighbourhood.”
The project has drawn support from Fraser Health and the Abbotsford Police Department, which states that the current services offered at the site have required fewer police resources than comparable facilities.
The city says there are currently 40 encampments and more than 400 unhoused individuals across Abbotsford.
Originally published online at The Abbotsford News
A slumlord is a derogatory term used to describe a landlord who knowingly maintains rental properties in poor or unsafe conditions, often while charging high rents. Slumlords typically neglect necessary repairs, ignore health and safety codes, and exploit tenants, often those in low-income or vulnerable situations who have limited housing options.
Characteristics of a Slumlord:
Legal Context in Canada and the US:
Both Canada and the US have laws and regulations to protect tenants from slumlords, but enforcement varies by region.
Tenant Rights:
Tenants in both countries have the right to:
Addressing Slumlord Practices:
Slumlords contribute to the broader issue of housing inequality and the lack of affordable, safe housing in many urban areas. Combating their practices requires stronger enforcement of housing laws and increased support for tenants.
Dealing with a slumlord can be incredibly frustrating and stressful, but there are steps you can take to protect your rights and improve your living situation. Here’s a guide to help you navigate the situation:
1. Know Your Rights
2. Document Everything
3. Communicate with Your Landlord
4. Report Code Violations
5. Withhold Rent or Repair and Deduct
6. Join or Organize with Other Tenants
7. Seek Legal Help
8. Consider Moving
9. Report to Local Media
10. Stay Safe
Resources to Help You:
By taking these steps, you can hold your landlord accountable and work toward a safer, healthier living environment.
