Portraits of Edmonton's Inner City (Video) is a audio slide show of people living in poverty in Edmonton, one of Canada's richest cities. The photographer, Pieter de Vos says it is an attempt to make sense of over a decade of inner city work, an attempt to combine photography with sound, narration, and reflection.

Edmonton, along with the rest of Alberta is facing a serious affordable housing crisis. In the spring, some homeless residents started up a tent city due to the lack of affordable housing. Throughout the summer the tent city grew to over 200 residents. On September 15th the city evicted the remaining residents of the tent city, many who do not have shelter. For more information read an article on CBC, "Edmonton closes tent city for the homeless" and an article on Homeless Nation. Watch a video of the closing of tent city (Video) and of a rally in August for Affordable Housing.

The government of Alberta has created a Alberta Affordable Housing Task Force to look at solutions to homelessness and rent subsidies. The task force is going to travel across the province and visit the many Albertan cities and towns that are facing increasing homelessness. The first stop for the task forces will be Grande Prairie, which is a small city with a big homeless problem.

Many families are moving to Calgary to take part in the city's economic boom. However, although many of these people could be easily employed, they cannot find anywhere to live. The city wasn't prepared for the influx of people and do not have enough affordable housing nor an adequate transit system to provide for its growing population. Homeless shelters are becoming overwhelmed with new families moving to Calgary and being unable to find homes. Read the Vancouver Sun's article: "New workers swamp Calgary's homeless agencies in Calgary."

"Although Calgary boasts one of the strongest economies among all Canadian cities, the population is increasingly divided into “haves” and “have-nots.” In the past few years, child poverty rates have almost doubled, such that 20% (about 43,000) of Calgary’s children now live below LICO. Almost one in five parents in Calgary reports that they do not have enough money to buy food all of the time. Poverty rates and unemployment rates are much higher for immigrants and Aboriginal peoples than among the rest of the population. Aboriginal peoples continue to suffer a broad range of health, social, and economic problems at rates vastly exceeding those of other Calgarians."

A Canadian Policy Research Network report (in PDF) from April 2006 examines demographic developments over the next 30 years and how they are likely to inter-relate and influence change in 5 urban systems – social, economic, built environment and infrastructure, natural environment and governance.

Calgary's rent prices are becoming too high for many social agencies to continue having their offices in the city's downtown. These agencies chose to be based from downtown because much of Calgary's homeless population gather there. Thus, there are concerns regarding a possible relocation of the social agencies, since they could become much less accessible to many homeless people. For more detail on the concerns with Calgary's rent increases read the CBC's "Homeless pay price as Calgary Booms."

Alberta has agreed to pay more than $100 million to settle a class-action lawsuit with disabled, poor and widowed people who were receiving financial assistance from the province. Read a CBC news story: "Alberta settles $100M case over financial assistance payments." Poverty groups are trying to find a way to make sure those entitled to part of a $100-million lawsuit settlement know how to apply for compensation. Read a news story about the actions of these poverty groups.

Established in 2002, Vibrant Communities is a pan-Canadian initiative that explores promising local solutions to reduce poverty. Fifteen communities from across Canada have formed a learning partnership through which they share ideas, resources and strategies related to poverty reduction. This initiative hopes to address a long-standing challenge: Finding new and better ways to inform low income Edmonton residents about the Alberta Child Health Benefit (ACHB). This provincial program provides, on average, $265 a year per child for prescription drugs, dental and optical care, and emergency ambulance services. The Vibrant Communities document (in PDF) detailing the Edmonton projectis available online.

Homefest is a concert to raise awareness of the housing crisis hurting the lives of thousands of people in Edmonton. Money raised by the concert will be donated to support housing needs in Edmonton. Homefest's website has more information about the concert.

Rainbow Lodge, a 32-unit transitional housing facility that will provide support to homeless families opened in Calgary. This project will be managed by a Tri-Agency Committee that includes Métis Calgary Family Services Society (MCFS), Aspen Family and Community Network Society and Inn From the Cold Society. Aboriginal families will be the majority of clients who access the facility, though Rainbow Lodge will support all homeless families in the community. Read the press release about Rainbow Lodge or the original concept of the housing project.

The city of Calgary's Communities Strategies has released a newsletter on issues impacting Calgary's Aboriginal community called Beyond Beads and Feathers (in PDF).

Three University of Alberta business students spend five nights homeless to raise awareness about the issue. A University of Alberta newspaper article has more information about the student homelessness awareness campaign.

A study preformed at certain Canadian university nursing programs showed that many nursing students don't have much exposure to poverty and understanding of poverty issues. As poverty has a very large negetive impact on health, it is important that up and coming nurses have more direct experience with poverty and its surrounding issues. Read a University of Alberta's news article: "Student nurses need better understanding of poverty to help patients."

The city of Red Deer has made a pledge to eliminate homelessness within ten years. The city has expanded their homeless shelter and churches are providing extra beds to contribute to the effort. There is still too many people for the number of beds available, hopefully, the city will be able to meet its goal.

Edmonton's mayor and city council recognize homelessness as a growing concern for the city. In order to address the issue of homelessness city officials attended a conference on the subject. Plans have also been made to construct more affordable housing and to amend a bylaw which will enabled more housing developments. For more information read the CBC article on Edmonton's plan for tackling homelessness.

The Alberta government's refusal to use the Market Basket Measure (MBM) as a system to determining poverty levels in the province has allowed the government to ignore the fact that their policies and programs are not helping the poor. The Edmonton Social Planning Council (ESPC) is urging the government to adopt the MBM system and begin to fund programs and make policies in accordance with the new poverty information that the MBM will provide. For more information visit the Canadian Social Research Links Alberta webpage.

The Alberta government is reviewing its disability benefits program. Many people are pressuring the government to raise the monthly assistance rate. While the government aggrees that $855 per month is barely enough to live off, they are relucant to raise the amount without investigating less expensive ways of redistributing welfare funds. Read an article about the pressure to increase Alberta's disability benefits can be read.

"A new initiative, Alberta Works, will build on Alberta's success at helping unemployed people find, train for and keep jobs. It will support people when they move into the workforce, help families cover their basic costs of living, and help employers get the skilled workers they need." The Alberta Works website has a number of links to explain the program. The governing Income and Employment Supports Act and Regulations also has information.

Alberta's new welfare law, along with new welfare rates, is scheduled to come into effect on January 1, 2004. Bill 32, Income and Employment Supports Act (IESA), intends "helping people on income support move into the workforce". The Edmonton Social Planning Council (ESPC) responded to government's invitation for feedback and prepared a fact sheet that summarizes some of ESPC’s proposals for changes to the IESA regulations. Read the ESPC's fact sheet (in PDF) or the ESPC's entire submission (in PDF).

The Edmonton Social Planning Council (ESPC), in cooperation with four other organizations, is asking people to provide feedback to the Alberta government on the regulations for the new Income and Employment Supports Act. New legislation passed this spring that will come into effect in January 2004 will combine several current Alberta programs including Supports for Independence, Widow’s Pension, and the Skills Development Program. This is described by Alberta Human Resources and Employment as a response to the recommendations of the Low Income Review process that was completed two years ago. The Alberta government website has a copy of the act, regulations, programs and a link to the Appeals Secretariat.