Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, was at the Fondation de Lauberivière to highlight the signing of two new agreements between the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec to ensure the implementation of the federal program Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy, with total investments of nearly $175 million over five years for the period between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2024.
Through these new agreements, communities remain at the forefront, and regional community planning continues to be a central element. As a result, a variety of actions will be able to receive funding, while taking into account the most pressing needs of vulnerable populations identified by each community.
Dialogue and collaboration at the community level are fundamental principles of Reaching Home. The progressive implementation of a coordinated access system aims to promote collaborative processes to better meet the needs of people and families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Analysis and consultation will be carried out to determine how coordinated access will take shape in Quebec.
Reaching Home, which is a results-based strategy, will enable community partners to have a shared vision of the effects of their joint efforts and the initiatives underway to prevent and reduce homelessness, including chronic homelessness.
The Governments of Quebec and Canada are working together to implement these agreements. A joint management committee will serve as an official forum for strategic decisions and discussion.
Quotes
"All Canadians deserve a safe, affordable place to call home. Still, every day, vulnerable Canadians are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. That is why, with the Reaching Home agreement, we are establishing a program with the Government of Quebec that will provide communities with more flexibility and more resources to better meet the needs of Quebec's most vulnerable people."
- The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
Quick facts
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The two agreements have total investments of nearly $175 million over five years, for the period from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2024, including:
- the 2019-2024 Canada-Quebec Reaching Home Agreement ($172 million); and
- the 2019-2021 Agreement to Implement the Reaching Home Community Capacity and Innovation Funding Stream in Quebec ($2.8 million).
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Reaching Home will continue to support communities' efforts to prevent and reduce homelessness in Canada, and will help reach the National Housing Strategy's objectives, particularly reducing chronic homelessness across Canada by 50% by 2027-2028.
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Since 2001, five agreements on the joint implementation of programs to fight homelessness have been entered into. These two new agreements will enable funds to be allocated to Quebec for the period from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2024.
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The Government of Canada and the government of Quebec will continue their collaboration on the implementation of and follow-up on these two agreements. A joint management committee made up of representatives of both governments will serve as an official forum for decisions and discussions on all topics related to the agreements.
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Anticipating that discussions on the 2019-2024 Canada-Quebec Reaching Home Agreement would continue beyond March 31, 2019, the two governments implemented transitional measures for a duration of two years, from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2021, to ensure the continuation of services.
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A new implementation model will be put in place to promote decision making at the local level and to provide communities with greater financial agility.
