New research suggests Calgarians need to make more money than people in other major Canadian cities in order to keep their home.
The University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy released a new report on Tuesday examining Canda’s growing affordability crisis and its impact on homelessness.
The report introduces the concept of the Homelessness Income Cut Off (HICO), which it says is a new measure that can be used to reveal the income required for Canadians to avoid homelessness after relying on personal financial cut-backs and social services.
“Most people with income below Canada’s official poverty line avoid homelessness,” says the report. “They do so by making extraordinary efforts to minimize out-of-pocket expenses and so conserve income for rent. These efforts involve moving to less expensive accommodations, living in more crowded housing, forgoing non-necessities, and relying on charities to reduce expenditures on food, clothing, and other necessities.”
The paper presents calculations of the HICO for seven cities: Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax, from 2015 to 2022.
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