City and Province look to increase shelters in Edmonton
Posted December 2, 2022 10:19 am.
As temperatures dip in Edmonton, city council is dipping into emergency funding to help shelter the homeless.
The city will spend up to $7.5 million dollars this winter to create a temporary shelter at the Bedford Hotel on Stony Plain Road.
“This is a critical need, even though it is not the city’s core responsibility to provide shelters,” mayor Amarjeet Sohi told reporters Wednesday that typically provincial governments fund these services, not cities.
“We need to step up in the absence of not having enough shelters available from the province.”
The latest numbers from Homeward Trust show approximately 2,800 Edmontonians are unhoused, with half of those living on the streets or in shelters. Council heard Wednesday that shelter space became tight during Edmonton’s last cold snap, with 97 per cent of spaces filled.
The new emergency funding will create a 24/7 shelter space with 209 beds, run by the Jasper Place Wellness Centre in partnership with Tallcree Tribal Government. This brings Edmonton’s shelter capacity to 1,300.
Alberta’s new minister responsible for Social Services, Jeremy Nixon, said in a statement to CityNews that his office working to open 150 new spaces “in the near future”.
“I am confident that if we continue in a partnership with the City of Edmonton, not only will we be able to address concerns for this winter, but also come up with long-term solutions in helping people overcome homelessness.”
Mayor Sohi, despite sharing some frustration that the city is funding the temporary west-end shelter, says he is optimistic to work with the province.
“I’m also hopeful, that premier smith and her cabinet are willing to sit down and willing to talk about it,” said the mayor.
The new shelter will take a few weeks to properly set up the space, and the medical and mental health supports needed to properly run a shelter.
With the current cold snap hitting Edmonton, the city has activated its extreme weather response, which included 75 overnight shelter spaces at the Al Rashid Mosque.
-With files from Elliott Knopp
