In recent years, there have been many studies on the cost of homelessness.
Most of them suggest if the funding spent on homelessness were put towards housing, the problem would be solved.
A study by the Sheldon Chumir Foundation of Ethics in Leadership states it costs Canadian taxpayers between $4.5 and $6 billion each year to support a national homeless population of 150,000 people. The number sounds staggering. Where does that all that money go?
You might think homeless shelters would be the biggest cost, but far from it. The bulk of these costs are emergency services, hospitalization and prisons.
That’s why I take issue with these kinds of studies.
Firstly, they begin with homeless people that are “frequent flyers” — people frequently picked up by emergency services and taken to hospitals or police stations.
These people use a lot of resources. They cost tens of thousands of dollars.
I’m not sure what the numbers are in Winnipeg, but in Calgary there were about 40 individuals that met the criteria.
If they each cost emergency services $100,000 per year each — a high estimate — and we compare that to the cost of $94,000 to incarcerate a person, there really is not much difference.
And in prison, people have more privacy, services and security than on the street.
Put into perspective, there are maybe 1,000 frequent flyers across Canada compared to 32,000 prisoners.
Prison costs, the courts and the legal system far outweigh whatever investment is made toward homelessness. Secondly, the research is too broad in scope.
Researches might study a sample of 40 frequent flyers and then generalize those costs for every homeless person, which inflates the estimated costs.
The worst part about this kind of research and the numbers it produces is it inflames the public and creates a backlash towards the homeless and service providers.
Thirdly, all hospital care given to a homeless person is factored into the costs and no comparison is made to the general public.
It costs $3,000 per person for health care across Canada, and there is no recognition in the homeless studies that this has been factored into the results.
Do we not believe a homeless person is entitled to health care? Do we single out those that receive cancer care, which can cost astronomical amounts?
The cost of housing people is much different than comparing every service a person might use as a citizen of Canada.
There are many homeless that do have health, addiction and mental health issues that may get better if they have adequate housing — but the cost to taxpayers will change little because many aren’t even receiving any services now. The real cost of homelessness is we have tens of thousands of people living under bridges and in shelters.
The real cost of homelessness is most of those people have no privacy, no address, and as time goes on, no hope.
Like I said, even prisoners have more privacy, services and security than the homeless.
— Floyd Perras is executive director of Siloam Mission.
