The number of people working with the homeless is growing faster in Ontario and British Columbia than in Quebec. Montreal, the second largest city in Canada, has only 8.2% of workers in this sector, reveals Statistics Canada.
1,330 workers in Quebec
Overall, the number of homelessness stakeholders is increasing across the country. The sector has 10,130 more workers than in 2016, according to 2021 census data released Wednesday. But if the increases are 79% in Ontario and 64% in British Columbia, they are only 22% in Quebec. In 2021, Quebec had 1,330 workers in this sector. In British Columbia? 2270. In Ontario: 4000. Nearly half of all these workers are in the six largest Canadian cities, but the share of Montreal, the second largest city in the country, is only 8.2%. Toronto leads with 15.6%, followed by Vancouver (12.3%), Montreal (8.2%), Edmonton (4.4%), Ottawa–Gatineau (4.3%) and Calgary (3. 8%).
A salary of $34,000
These workers are more numerous, but they are also poorer. The median income of people providing homeless services was $34,000 in 2020, down 3.4% from 2015, not adjusting for inflation, Statistics Canada notes. “These figures confirm what the community repeats constantly. The living conditions of homeless community workers are directly linked to the lack of permanent and sufficient funding for the various [ordres de gouvernement] “, reacts Annie Savage, director of the Network of assistance to the alone and itinerant people of Montreal (RAPSIM).
Three times as many women
Unsurprisingly, women are three times more likely than men to work with people experiencing homelessness. In 2021, “nearly three out of four people who worked in the homelessness support sector (73.8%) were women,” says Statistics Canada. However, the number of men is increasing. Since 2016, there have been 1,175 more workers, for a total of 2,655 men. The proportion of women rose from 76.5% to 73.8% between 2016 and 2021. The number of racialized workers is also on the rise. In 2021, 28% of homeless workers belonged to a racialized group.
Multitude of skills
Many of these employees hold a university degree. Nearly 4 out of 10 employees have a bachelor’s degree or higher. “These individuals represented the largest group of workers in the homelessness support sector by level of education attained,” says Statistics Canada. “It takes a multitude of skills. The issues experienced by homeless people are multiple and complex. We have a super high level of expertise or knowledge or experience, but at the same time, we are not able to compete with the health network, for example, or even the City of Montreal, in terms of wages and working conditions,” says Annie Savage of RAPSIM.