An artificial intelligence algorithm has crunched the numbers for how many people in Canada could be homeless by 2030.
According to the predictive AI by HelpSeeker, a Calgary technology company working to address social problems, Canada’s homeless population will almost double in the next six years.
“That doesn’t mean that we’re going to be looking at visible homelessness,” Alina Turner, CEO of HelpSeeker, said in a press conference Monday. “We have layers of visibility, we have rough sleeping, an encampment, we’ve got people that are in those unsafe situations (and) we have people that are couch surfing.”
HelpSeeker’s AI used data from municipalities across the country including shelter usage, hidden homelessness estimates, inflation trends, unemployment numbers and other factors like housing and rental stock.
One of the key sets of data for the AI is the predicted population growth of the country, which is set to be around 50 million in the next six years, according to Statistics Canada.
Predictions from HelpSeeker’s AI on how many people in Canada that will be homeless by 2030. (HelpSeeker)
Compounding all these factors, the AI predicted that homelessness is likely to increase by roughly 83 per cent by 2030.
Due to a lack of data, Turner said it’s unclear exactly what Canada’s current at-risk homelessness statistics are. The population of Canadians at risk of homelessness is projected, however, to be close to one million by the end of the decade.
Hidden homelessness, which describes people who could be couch surfing and not presenting at shelters, is expected to reach around 300,000 people by 2030, the AI predicts.
Furthermore, the AI noted people living in absolute homelessness, or those who have no physical home and spend nights in emergency shelters, will reach around 200,000 people by 2030.
HOW DO WE CLOSE THE GAP?
Preventing these predictions from becoming true will require concrete action across the country, researchers from HelpSeeker say.
“It’s going to take a lot, it’s going to take complex care and supportive housing beds,” Turner said.
HelpSeeker’s predictive AI and researchers believe Canada needs to invest about $169 million to close the gap for homelessness. (HelpSeeker)
Researchers believe by 2030 an increase of 103,000 beds with medical care, 1.3 million non-market housing units, 50,000 recovery and transitional care beds and 30,000 emergency shelter beds would help tackle the issue of homelessness in Canada.
“If we’re not able to build these systems now, these trajectories are going to go unchanged,” Turner said.
The federal government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
If Canada used funding geared toward the “right interventions,” Turner said, the homelessness numbers would look very different in the next six years.
It will cost Canada more than $169 billion to build the total emergency shelters and social or subsidized housing needed, HelpSeeker estimates.
However, to maintain these supports and prevent more people from being homeless, each year the costs will be around $16 billion, the company said.
“The good news is, we do have about a trillion dollars every year that is going into the social safety net,” Turner said. “It’s going into everything from addiction to mental health, homelessness and housing instability and community personal safety. So can we afford it? First of all, we can’t afford not to.”
Several stakeholders from other organizations and municipalities also raised concern at the lack of action they’re seeing.
Susan McGee, CEO of Homeward Trust an Edmonton homelessness organization, said investment into social safety nets and housing has a “real-time” impact on people and that Canadians cannot wait any longer for these investments.
“We have seen a really significant increase in deaths directly related to being unsheltered,” she said at the press conference. “This is immediate and urgent and we need to treat it like the crisis that it is.”
Jamie Lloyd-Smith, a social development specialist with the City of Penticton, B.C., shared similar concerns.
Lloyd-Smith said her community of about 37,000 has seen a large population growth, which has spiked the demand for affordable housing.
Without funding from higher levels of government, she said the community is struggling to support its homeless population.
“I often say we were too small to be a big city, but we were too big to be a small city, and so from a funding and resource perspective, we were often left out of some of those funding calls,” she said.
OTTAWA – Conservative MP Garnett Genuis told a federal inquiry today that parliamentarians who were targeted by Chinese hackers could have taken immediate protective steps if they had been informed sooner.
It emerged earlier this year that in 2021 some MPs and senators faced cyberattacks from the hackers because of their involvement with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which pushes for accountability from Beijing.
In 2022, U.S. authorities apparently informed the Canadian government of the attacks, and it in turn advised parliamentary IT officials — but not individual MPs.
Genuis, a Canadian co-chair of the inter-parliamentary alliance, told a federal commission of inquiry on foreign interference today that it remains mysterious to him why he wasn’t informed about the attacks sooner.
Liberal MP John McKay, also a Canadian co-chair of the alliance, said there should be a clear protocol for advising parliamentarians of cyberthreats.
Several weeks of public inquiry hearings will focus on the capacity of federal agencies to detect, deter and counter foreign meddling.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
TORONTO – After being drafted in the third round (61st overall) of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, forward Charlie Sharp decided to put his dream of playing professional football on hold.
He spent a couple of weeks training with Toronto FC that summer and then returned for a fifth year at Western Michigan University.
“It was a really tough decision for me,” Sharp recalled. “Because I knew that going back to school, nothing was guaranteed. I could get injured or not perform well, but it seemed to really work out for me.”
Sharp scored 19 goals and added eight assists as a senior, leading the Broncos to a 17-2-3 record and a third-round appearance in the NCAA tournament where they eventually lost to national runner-up Notre Dame on penalty kicks. Sharp, who scored or assisted in nine of his last 10 matches, ranked first in the NCAA with 0.95 goals per game and 2.30 points per game and was tied for second with seven game-winning goals.
The 23-year-old Sharp, whose rights were retained by Toronto, spent time with the TFC first team in this year’s pre-season and signed with Toronto FC II in February. On Tuesday, he joined TFC 2 teammate Nate Edwards, a wingback from Brampton, Ont., in signing a first-team contract.
“We are happy to officially elevate Charlie at this time,” Toronto GM Jason Hernandez said in a statement Tuesday. “His strong mentality and mature playing style will be a welcomed addition to our young player group in the first team.”
Both players signed contracts that run through 2025 with club options for 2026 and 2027.
The deals were completed in advance of Friday’s MLS roster freeze but took their time working their way through the league office.
“A bit of unorthodox path that I chose,” said Sharp. “But I think you’re seeing it more now with players that get drafted.”
“I’m super-happy,” he added. “I think I made the right decision.”
As a senior, Sharp was one of three finalists for the 2023 MAC Hermann Trophy, which honours the top NCAA soccer player. The award eventually went to Clemson senior forward Ousmane Sylla.
The six-foot-five 185-pounder from Brighton, Mich., finished his collegiate career with 42 goals 22 assists, and 106 points in 89 games. He ranks first in career goals and games and tied for fourth in assists for Western Michigan.
In returning to Kalamazoo for a fifth year, Sharp also succeeded off the pitch by completing his degree in computer information systems.
Despite some niggling injuries, Sharp has five goals and two assists in 16 appearances with TFC 2 this season. He made his first-team debut off the bench May 15 against Nashville.
“I had a lot of friends and family watching,” he said.
“It’s been a journey,” Sharp added. “I’ve been thankful for every step of the way.,”
The 21-year-old Edwards has one goal and two assists in 23 games with TFC’s MLS Next Pro team.
“He has been a top performer with TFC II this season and we look forward to his continued growth within our environment,” said Hernandez
Edwards, who also joined TFC 2 in February, made his first-team debut May 21 in Canadian Championship play against Ligue1 Quebec champion CS Saint-Laurent.
The five-foot-eight 167-pounder split his college career between Syracuse University and Purdue University Fort Wayne. As a senior in 2023, he had one goal and four assists for Syracuse and was named to the 2023 All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Academic Team and College Sport Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team.
At Purdue University Fort Wayne, he had two goals and an assist in 40 appearances across three seasons (2020-2022) with the Mastodons.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
CALGARY – A Calgary man who pleaded guilty to sharing Islamic State recruitment videos and propaganda on TikTok will spend the next six years behind bars.
Zakarya Rida Hussein was sentenced during a court appearance on Friday after he pleaded guilty to one of four terrorism-related charges.
Hussein admitted that he owned social media accounts that posted ISIS recruitment videos and propaganda.
He also admitted to sharing a bomb-making video online.
The man was arrested in June 2023 after a joint investigation led by the RCMP and the Calgary Police Service.
Hussein will need to submit DNA results and will be under lifetime ban from owning firearms after he’s released.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
Predictions from HelpSeeker’s AI on how many people in Canada that will be homeless by 2030. (HelpSeeker)
HelpSeeker’s predictive AI and researchers believe Canada needs to invest about $169 million to close the gap for homelessness. (HelpSeeker)
