Opposition pushing for 24-hour access to shelters as P.E.I. housing crisis drags on

Thinh Nguyen · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 25, 2025 12:15 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

There were questions successful the P.E.I. legislature Thursday astir the request for radical who don't person lodging to person 24-hour entree to shelters crossed the Island.

The taxable was raised aft a Liberal question connected the contented was defeated earlier successful the week.

Currently, Charlottetown has the Park Street Emergency Shelter, which is tally by the state and operates 7 days a week from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. People staying determination indispensable permission for the day, returning each night. 

In Summerside, a 10-bed exigency structure astatine 25 Frank Mellish Dr. opened six months ago. The provincially operated installation is unfastened 7 days a week, from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m.

Opposition MLA Gord McNeilly asked astir the level of authorities enactment for susceptible Islanders, and the interaction of constricted structure hours connected them.

"How bash you expect idiosyncratic to rebuild their life, find a job, be appointments, negociate their assistance erstwhile they're forced to transportation each possession they person connected their backmost and rotation the streets for hours until beds unfastened up again the adjacent night?" McNeilly said successful the legislature Thursday.

In response, Barb Ramsay, P.E.I.'s curate of societal improvement and seniors, noted that the Community Outreach Centre, adjacent to the Park Street shelter, is unfastened during daytime and tin connection enactment for radical leaving the structure during non-operating hours.

"We tin ever bash better, but I'm precise pleased with wherever we are. We're going to proceed to enactment towards making the astir susceptible Islanders arsenic comfy arsenic we can," she said.

Meanwhile successful Summerside, Ramsay pointed retired that determination are 2 shelters successful the metropolis that are already unfastened astir the clock: the LifeHouse Transitional Housing and Emergency Shelter for women and the men's structure connected Winter Street.

The overnight structure connected Frank Mellish Drive began operations past year.

"We conscionable opened the exigency structure six months ago. We're getting there, but it takes a small spot of clip and a batch of money. So it's hard to person it some ways, but we're doing the champion we tin and we're going to proceed to bash that," Ramsay said.

'We person a plan'

In a further effect to McNeilly, Premier Rob Lantz mentioned the province's housing-first attack to enactment radical dealing with homelessness, focusing connected transitional lodging and supportive housing.

It's portion of the five-year plan the authorities announced past twelvemonth to summation the lodging proviso successful effect to the ongoing accommodations situation connected P.E.I. Rents person accrued sharply implicit the past respective years and the vacancy complaint remains beneath 1 per cent.

"We person a program to determination guardant to amended those services. The curate himself has talked astir his housing-first model," Lantz said, referring to Housing Minister Steven Myers.

"He is astatine this infinitesimal doing probe connected however to unroll that programme and supply further services for the unhoused successful Prince Edward Island."

McNeilly past pointed to the 2024 Point successful Time number conducted by the John Howard Society connected P.E.I. showing the fig of stateless radical connected the Island appears to person much than doubled successful 3 years.

"This is simply a disaster," the MLA said. "Housing First is six to 7 years distant astatine best. What are you pursuing for radical who request structure tonight?"

In response, Lantz said: "We bash person a task unit of assemblage members and partners from each crossed the province, who conscionable connected a monthly basis, who are devising a program for moving guardant to responding to the needs of Islanders with analyzable needs."

"We'll proceed to invest, but exigency services are conscionable that; they are for exigency services. We person a semipermanent program to location radical successful due housing, truthful that they tin determination connected with their lives with dignity."