{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Policy Crimes","title":"The Cost of Homelessness in Canada | Steve Pomeroy","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3437,"description":"Governments often ask whether we can afford to house people experiencing homelessness. Housing policy expert Steve Pomeroy flips the question: how much are we already paying to keep people homeless?\nIn this episode, he revisits his foundational cost of homelessness research showing supportive housing costs about one-third as much as emergency responses like shelters, hospitals, and police. Pomeroy explains why governments struggle to reinvest savings, points to structural drivers of Canada’s housing crisis, and outlines his Recovery for All plan — a costed roadmap to end homelessness for less than what we already spend on failure.\n\nGet extras and support the show: https://thepublicationcoop.substack.com\nGuest: Steve Pomeroy is one of Canada’s leading housing policy experts, whose early cost of homelessness studies in Toronto (late 1990s), British Columbia (2001), and a landmark 2005 national study helped establish the field in Canada. Beyond this foundational work, he has published widely on Canadian housing economics, affordability, and policy. He is Principal of Focus Consulting Inc., Senior Research Fellow with the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative (CHEC), and Industry Professor at McMaster University.\n\nTopics Covered:\nSupportive housing vs. emergency system costs\nMethodology of Canada’s cost-of-homelessness studies\nWhy cost-offsets often don’t immediately translate into budget savings\nRoot causes of the homelessness crisis\nWhat it would cost to end homelessness in Canada\nStudies referenced:\nCost of Homelessness in British Columbia (2001)\nThe Cost of Homelessness: Analysis of Alternate Responses in Four Canadian Cities (2005)\nRecovery for All (2020)\nFilling the hole in the bucket: Loss of existing affordable rentals massively undermining new affordable supply (2024)\nProduction:\nProducers: Tristan Markle, Lina Moskaleva, and CJ Tremblay\nSound and original music: Matthew Hayter, matthewhaytermusic.com\nThis podcast is a project of The Publication...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/-qFAzt9KD_NLQj8vmAK6B_j6BnOIdoMW8aFnoeggW7Y/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS85NDRh/Y2U1MDcxZDhiZmI2/ZjYyNjVjNmEzMDJl/MDQyYi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}