Homeless Veterans

The circumstances that can lead to Veteran homelessness can involve many issues, from financial, to mental health, to family circumstances, to failures with the system, and much more. The Royal Canadian Legion is actively involved in advocating for supports and solutions for homeless Veterans.

The Royal Canadian Legion continues to be fully involved in working to find solutions for homeless Veterans. Our ‘Leave the Streets Behind’ program provides emergency financial support, and short term and long-term solutions to help homeless or near homeless Veterans get off the streets and into a home of their own.

Primary advocacy position(s) on this issue:

• Evidence of progress on the government’s plan to end homelessness. In June 2019, the government passed Bill M-225 Veteran Homelessness in Canada, with a goal of ending Veteran homelessness by 2025. In April 2023, the Government announced their Veteran Homelessness Program strategy, providing funding for housing supplements and wrap-around services, as well as for research, data collection and capacity building. The Legion awaits the results of the application process, the chosen proposals and the services, supports and research implications.

• The Legion is looking for a strategy that coordinates the efforts of national service providers and organizations to identify priority areas and gaps in several key areas including causes of homelessness, outreach and communication, services and programs, accessibility and coordination of effort.
• The strategy should make use of research already present in this domain, and then identify any gaps in knowledge and service delivery.
• It must be coordinated with the work of other service providers.