Social Policy Trends: Emergency Shelter Stays, Calgary, 2008-2017

Authors

  • Margarita (Gres) Wilkins University of Calgary
  • Ronald D. Kneebone University of Calgary

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11575/sppp.v10i0.43139

Abstract

EMERGENCY SHELTER STAYS, CALGARY, 2008-2017

Number of stays in emergency homeless shelters provided for single adults: Total, and the number of stays as a percentage of Calgary’s adult population

In 2008, Calgary embarked on a 10-year plan to address homelessness. The chart provides measures of the progress made in that regard. The jagged black line records the nightly number of stays in those of Calgary’s emergency shelters allocated for single adults from January 1, 2008 to May 31, 2017. (By far the greatest number of shelter stays are those by single persons. Not shown are stays in shelters that are provided for families.) There is a large variation in the number of shelter stays within any specific year, reflecting seasonal and other influences on shelter use. Importantly, the maximum number of stays observed in a given year is trending downward as shown by the solid blue line. The maximum number of adult shelter beds used in a year has fallen by 31% since 2009. 

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Published

2017-09-21

Issue

Section

Communiqués