Community Plans

The EndPovertyEdmonton Strategy aims to end poverty in Edmonton, not to merely manage it or help people cope with it. The strategy builds a strong case for ending poverty on three fronts: the economic argument, the human rights case and the public opinion approach. The priorities identified address poverty by responding to urgent and immediate needs, removing barriers to change, and tackling the root causes of poverty. While there are no quick fixes to end poverty, this strategy offers actions that Edmontonians can take to realize an immediate impact.

The Plan focuses on a number of key activities which include promoting coordinated and comprehensive efforts at the community level to reduce and prevent homelessness; facilitating the movement of the homeless population from the street to stable living environments and toward greater self-sufficiency; facilitating the development of sustainable partnerships among a wide range of stakeholders to address homelessness at a community level; and encouraging the development and sharing of information, best practices and lessons learned about homelessness.

The Plan provides a comprehensive roadmap for addressing homelessness, low-income housing and related support service needs in Edmonton over this five year period. It identifies that significantly more housing and support services are required at all levels to address homelessness and affordable housing issues; and to prevent homelessness among those at risk. It also identifies that efforts should be concentrated to increase the supply of housing and housing-related services that provide longer-term solutions.

The Plan outlines what the community intends to do to respond to priority housing and support needs in the Edmonton area for the next five years; and it strengthens the information base upon which funding, implementation and future planning decisions are made.