Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy

Reaching Home, launched in 2019, is a community-based program aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness across Canada.

Reaching Home is now investing $5 billion over nine years (2019 – 2028) to address homelessness.

Reaching Home is a community-based program that aims to prevent and reduce homelessness by providing direct support and funding to Designated Communities (urban centres), Indigenous communities, territorial communities, and rural and remote communities across Canada.

Eligible activities and expenses are grouped into five (5) main categories of activities directed at achieving the program objective, plus administration expenses:

• Housing Services;
• Prevention and Shelter Diversion;
• Client Support Services;
• Capital Investments;
• Coordination of Resources and Data Quality Improvement; and,
• Administration.

Capital investments are intended to increase the capacity or improve the quality of facilities that address the needs of individuals and families experiencing or at imminent risk of homelessness, including those that support culturally-appropriate programming for Indigenous peoples.

While Reaching Home funding can contribute towards capital costs to create new units per the above eligible activities, it cannot be used to create, renovate or repair housing units, including social housing, that are not solely intended for people experiencing homelessness and paired with wrap-around supports.

Providing long-term rental assistance (i.e., providing financial assistance for housing costs beyond the eligible activities described).

The maximum amount of administrative costs covered under Reaching Home is 15% of the total allocation.

Additionally, total government funding—including federal, provincial/territorial, and municipal contributions for the same eligible expenditures—must not exceed 100% of those expenditures.

The KDSB applied for and was selected to become a Reaching Home Designated Community under the Government of Canada.

CCI funding will enable the Kenora District Services Board (KDSB), as the CE for the Kenora District, to continue to support wages and service delivery for coordinated access work in the region including centralized data collection and reporting to community partners (Indigenous and Non-Indigenous), local governance, and various government ministries.