Featured – End Homelessness Winnipeg

Posted: September 15, 2023 Filed Under: Community Blog

Please be advised that effective immediately, September 15/23, End Homelessness Winnipeg will no longer be processing any incomplete Canada Manitoba Housing Benefit (CMHB) applications. Click Here for more information

Explore our 2023 Spring/Summer Resource Guide

2023-Spring-Summer-Resource-Guide v5 Download

Kíkinanaw Óma – A Strategy to Support Unsheltered Winnipeggers was created in collaboration with a group facilitated by End Homelessness Winnipeg. The Strategy group includes representation from the City of Winnipeg, first responders, outreach workers, homeless-serving agencies and people with lived experience of homelessness. The name Kíkinanaw Óma can be translated as “This is our Home Here” from Cree. Elder Belinda Vandenbroeck gifted this name to the Strategy.

The Strategy was released in June 2020, offering context on unsheltered homelessness and encampments in Winnipeg and providing an overview of the work of the Kíkinanaw Óma Strategy group over the previous year. This work involved development of an Interim Strategy that makes trained peer and outreach workers, rather than police, the first point of contact for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. The Strategy group also released a Media Toolkit for Reporting on Homelessness and a Guide for Winnipeg residents on What to Do if encountering someone experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

Since the release of the Strategy, rapid progress has been made on some of its six recommendations, while barriers have emerged to the implementation of others. The COVID-19 pandemic increased urgency for addressing unsheltered homelessness, building broad awareness that housing is health care. However, COVID-19 also increased the visibility of unsheltered homelessness in Winnipeg. Outreach services expanded and work in ever-closer collaboration, supported by strong relationships with first responders when emergencies arise. New and expanded Safe Spaces emerged, and several new housing initiatives began to address key gaps in Winnipeg’s housing continuum that contribute to unsheltered homelessness. Yet need may be outpacing the construction of these developments, while rising housing costs continue to keep safe homes out of reach for many.

The one-year anniversary of Kíkinanaw Óma in 2021 offered an opportunity to reflect on progress and reaffirm next steps toward ending unsheltered homelessness in Winnipeg. A 1-Year Report to the community was launched in July 2021. A virtual community event was held to discuss the report and progress on key recommendations of the Strategy on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. You can watch a video from that event here. Also in July 2021, the City of Winnipeg formalized its role in the Interim Strategy through the Encampment Support Process outlined on the city’s website.

The two-year anniversary of Kíkinanaw Óma in 2022 has brought another chance to evaluate progress and next steps for ending unsheltered homelessness in Winnipeg. A 2-Year Report to the community, launched in July 2022, reveals that while unsheltered homelessness has decreased since the winter of 2021-2022, emergency shelter capacity is at an all-time high, pointing to the ongoing need for low-income, low-barrier, and Indigenous-led housing options.

Additional Information

2022 Kíkinanaw Óma Unsheltered Strategy 2-Year Report (.pdf)
2021 Presentation on Kíkinanaw Óma for the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness National Conference (YouTube)
2021 Kíkinanaw Óma Unsheltered Strategy 1-Year Report (.pdf)
2021 Guide – What to Do if encountering someone who may be experiencing unsheltered Homelessness (.pdf)
- The Guide is also available in .png format
- The Guide is also available in .pdf format on a white background
2021 Media Toolkit for Reporting on Homelessness (.pdf)
2020 Kíkinanaw Óma – A Strategy to Support Unsheltered Winnipeggers (.pdf)

End Homelessness Winnipeg initiated an Extreme Weather Response Committee in 2016, to coordinate homeless-centred strategies for keeping Winnipeggers safer during hazardous weather conditions. The Committee included representatives from emergency shelters, outreach services, drop-ins, municipal and provincial departments, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. In 2022, the Extreme Weather Response Committee merged with the COVID-19 Response for Winnipeg’s homeless-serving sectors, to form a Homelessness Emergency Response Committee that plans for and addresses emergent issues related to extreme weather, climate change, public health crises, and service disruptions such as building failures, construction and moves, among providers of essential homelessness services including mobile outreach, drop-ins, shelters and safe spaces.

Download the 2022 Homelessness Emergency Response Plan here.

Additional Information

2023 Spring/Summer Resource Guide (.pdf)
2023 Fall/Winter Resource Guide (.pdf)
2022 Summer Resource Guide (.pdf)
2022 Plain Language Summer Safety Tip Sheet (.pdf)
Graphic – signs and responses for heat exhaustion and heat stroke (.jpg)
Poster – signs and responses for frostbite and hypothermia (.pdf)

Past Extreme Weather Response Plans

2021-2022 Extreme Weather Response Plan (.pdf)
2020-2021 Winter Weather Response Plan (.pdf)
2020 Extreme Heat Response Plan (.pdf)
2019-2020 Extreme Cold Weather Response Plan (.pdf)
2019 Extreme Heat Response Plan (.pdf)
2018-2019 Extreme Cold Weather Response Plan (.pdf)
2017-2018 Cold Weather Response Plan (.pdf)

2022 Street Census Report and Recommendations

EHW_202211_Street Census Infographic_v4 Download

The 2022 Winnipeg Street Census took place on Wednesday, May 25, 2022

The Street Census is Winnipeg’s Point-in-Time Count. Point-in-Time Counts gather a one-day snapshot of homelessness in the city, contributing to a national picture. Every few years, communities across the country participate in similar Point-in-Time Counts. Information is gathered during a single, 24-hour period in two main ways:

A brief survey conducted face-to-face along walking routes and in designated locations by volunteers
Data provided by community organizations and government agencies

The Street Census is more than just a tally of the number of people observed experiencing homelessness on a single day. Street Census survey questions reflect national standards, as well as input from local Lived Experts, researchers, outreach workers, service providers and public service staff. Information gathered includes the number of people experiencing homelessness, where they stayed the night before the survey, and demographic data like age, gender, Indigeneity or newcomer status. No personally identifying information is collected.

Surveys are conducted by hundreds of trained volunteers, deployed in small teams. All volunteers are aged 18 or over and commit to 2.5 hours of training as well as 4 hours on the day of the Street Census. Training covers interviewing and survey recording, cultural safety, personal safety, ethical research, confidentiality and consent. All survey teams include both Lived Experts and service providers, wherever possible. Debriefing is available to all volunteers. In addition to the information gathered by these surveys, some data is provided by agencies and governments for people staying in institutional settings like hospitals or prisons who do not have a permanent address.

Any enumeration of people experiencing homelessness will only provide an estimate. Homelessness is a temporary situation, marked by a high level of mobility between different living situations and environments, for most people who experience it. People who have lost their housing are not a static group that can be found in a single location, neighbourhood or age bracket. Though Street Censuses cannot tell us for certain if homelessness is increasing or decreasing in Winnipeg, the information gathered can indicate trends in population demographics and sheltering choices. These trends can point to service needs, so that community organizations, funders and all levels of government can better work together to prevent and end homelessness.

The first Winnipeg Street Census took place in 2015. The second occurred in 2018. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 Street Census was postponed. An Interim Point-in-Time Count was conducted in 2021 and a complete Street Census is planned for May 25, 2022.

The Street Census is funded by Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy

For more information, please contact streetcensus@endhomelessnesswinnipeg.ca