Winnipeg’s homelessness response lacking: survey

Posted on August 30, 2024 by Peggy

Winnipeggers believe the city and provincial government are not doing a good job addressing homelessness, according to a recent survey.

The survey, completed by Probe Research, showed Winnipeggers have an overly negative view of how homelessness is being addressed.

It found 51 per cent of those surveyed believed the City of Winnipeg was doing a poor job, 32 per cent believed it was doing a fair job, and eight per cent believed the city was doing a good or excellent job.

With regards to the province, 46 per cent felt they were doing a poor job, while 34 per cent felt they were doing a fair job. Only 10 per cent thought they were doing a good or excellent job.

Social services and outreach agencies didn’t fare much better. According to the poll, 36 per cent felt they were doing a good or excellent job, while 36 per cent thought they were doing a fair job and 18 per cent believed they were doing a poor job.

A majority of those surveyed believe the current efforts aren’t working. Seventy-six per cent of people surveyed agreed that there needs to be an aggressive effort to find people places to live, while 74 per cent of people agreed that what’s being done to address homelessness is not really working.

Fifty-six per cent said it is taking too much time to deal with the root causes of homelessness.

When it comes to encampments, 68 per cent of those surveyed agreed that eliminating encampments couldn’t begin until more affordable housing could be built.

The question of whether people experiencing homelessness have a right to remain in an encampment if they wish brought out a variety of responses. Twenty-one per cent strongly disagrees, 26 per cent somewhat disagreed, 24 per cent somewhat agreed while seven per cent strongly agreed. Twenty per cent of people responding were neutral.

Probe Research surveyed 480 people in Winnipeg from Aug. 1 to 9 online. The estimated margin of error is plus/minus 4.47 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

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