Jean Chrétien and his cabinet privately linked Canada’s homelessness problem to provincial decisions to discharge psychiatric patients from institutions, newly declassified records from 1999 show.Blacklock's Reporter says confidential cabinet minutes also show ministers discussed the over-representation of indigenous Canadians among the homeless and concluded Ottawa could not address the issue without provincial and municipal cooperation.“There was wide agreement the issue could not be resolved by the federal government alone but would require cooperation among all levels of government,” said minutes from a secret January 21, 1999 cabinet meeting.“It was noted the number of homeless people are due, in part, to the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric patients from provincial institutions over recent years. The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of working collaboratively with the provinces.”Then-Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart told cabinet families, children and youth represented the fastest-growing groups among homeless Canadians.Stewart also noted “aboriginals are over-represented among the homeless” and that chronically homeless people consumed a disproportionate amount of available resources, according to the minutes.At a separate March 23, 1999 cabinet meeting, Stewart complained federal programs addressing homelessness were spread across numerous departments.“There was a need for federal coordination given that 11 departments are involved in this,” she said.Federal programs dealing with homelessness at the time were administered by departments and agencies ranging from Veterans Affairs to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.Chrétien also raised regional differences in homelessness at the March meeting.“The Prime Minister acknowledged that the issue of homelessness was complex and the problem was not the same in every city,” said the minutes.“He pointed out that the problems faced by cities such as Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Regina with their share of the native population were different from those faced by Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver.”.Chrétien reiterated that constitutional divisions of responsibility meant Ottawa could not tackle homelessness on its own.“He reiterated the need to respect the Constitution and the fact that social problems such as this could not be addressed by the federal government alone,” said the minutes.More than a quarter-century later, federal figures continue to document tens of thousands of homeless Canadians.The Department of Housing’s 2025 Annual Enumeration Of Homelessness counted approximately 65,000 homeless people nationwide.That included 36,716 people staying in shelters and another 12,847 sleeping in “streets, alleys, parks, transit stations, abandoned buildings, vehicles, ravines and other outdoor locations.”Another 10,747 were counted in transitional housing programs while 4,763 were living in tent encampments.The 2026 Census also became the first national census to ask Canadians whether they had slept in a vehicle at any point during the previous year.Statistics Canada said results are scheduled for release in 2027 and will “help shed light on people who may face significant social and housing challenges.”
