Tim Richter
Tim Richter is the Founder, President & CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH). The CAEH leads a national movement of individuals, organizations and communities working together to end homelessness in Canada. Under his leadership, the CAEH has shaped federal, provincial and local homelessness action and policy including the national implementation of Housing First, the National Housing Strategy and Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy. Most recently Tim was a co-author of “The National Housing Accord: A Multi-Sector Approach to Ending Canada’s Rental Housing Crisis.” Since it’s founding in 2012, the CAEH has hosted ten highly successful National Conferences on Ending Homelessness; launched a national Training and Technical Assistance program and, launched Built for Zero Canada – a national change effort helping a core group of leading communities end chronic and veteran homelessness – a first step on the path to eliminating all homelessness in Canada. Through this program the CAEH has helped six communities end homelessness for a population and eight achieve reductions in chronic homelessness. Prior to joining the CAEH, Tim was President & CEO of the Calgary Homeless Foundation charged with leading the implementation of Calgary’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness – the first plan of its kind in Canada. In the first four years of Calgary’s 10 Year Plan more than 4,000 homeless men, women and children were housed, 3,582 units of affordable housing were funded, and homelessness went down for the first time in 20 years of counting. Tim is currently co-chair of the National Housing Council, an independent advisory body mandated by the National Housing Strategy Act to provide advice to the federal Minister of Housing on improving the National Housing Strategy, improving housing outcomes for all Canadians, and advancing the progressive realization of the right to housing. Homelessness in Canada Today
Tim Richter is the Founder, President & CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH). The CAEH leads a national movement of individuals, organizations and communities working together to end homelessness in Canada.
Under his leadership, the CAEH has shaped federal, provincial and local homelessness action and policy including the national implementation of Housing First, the National Housing Strategy and Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy. Most recently Tim was a co-author of “The National Housing Accord: A Multi-Sector Approach to Ending Canada’s Rental Housing Crisis.”
Since it’s founding in 2012, the CAEH has hosted ten highly successful National Conferences on Ending Homelessness; launched a national Training and Technical Assistance program and, launched Built for Zero Canada – a national change effort helping a core group of leading communities end chronic and veteran homelessness – a first step on the path to eliminating all homelessness in Canada. Through this program the CAEH has helped six communities end homelessness for a population and eight achieve reductions in chronic homelessness.
Prior to joining the CAEH, Tim was President & CEO of the Calgary Homeless Foundation charged with leading the implementation of Calgary’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness – the first plan of its kind in Canada. In the first four years of Calgary’s 10 Year Plan more than 4,000 homeless men, women and children were housed, 3,582 units of affordable housing were funded, and homelessness went down for the first time in 20 years of counting.
Tim is currently co-chair of the National Housing Council, an independent advisory body mandated by the National Housing Strategy Act to provide advice to the federal Minister of Housing on improving the National Housing Strategy, improving housing outcomes for all Canadians, and advancing the progressive realization of the right to housing.
Why we are seeing so much homelessness in Canada today and what we can do about it? The scale of homelessness in Canada today is as big as, or bigger than, Canada’s largest natural disasters in terms of the number of people unhoused, the loss of life and the cost to the economy. The CAEH estimates 265,000 to 300,000 people per year will experience homelessness in Canada this year. In a recent national poll, the CAEH found that a staggering 12% of Canadians have experienced homelessness in their lives. In our country of 41 million people, that’s 4.9 million people – which is slightly more than the population of Alberta. As the scale of homelessness mirrors the scale of natural disasters in Canada, there are many lessons to be learned from disaster response in how we can tackle homelessness. But to start, we have to understand homelessness as a housing problem, not one caused by addiction, mental illness or any individual fault or failing. My presentation will explore why we are seeing homelessness like we are today and how we can solve it.
Why we are seeing so much homelessness in Canada today and what we can do about it? The scale of homelessness in Canada today is as big as, or bigger than, Canada’s largest natural disasters in terms of the number of people unhoused, the loss of life and the cost to the economy. The CAEH estimates 265,000 to 300,000 people per year will experience homelessness in Canada this year. In a recent national poll, the CAEH found that a staggering 12% of Canadians have experienced homelessness in their lives. In our country of 41 million people, that’s 4.9 million people – which is slightly more than the population of Alberta.
As the scale of homelessness mirrors the scale of natural disasters in Canada, there are many lessons to be learned from disaster response in how we can tackle homelessness. But to start, we have to understand homelessness as a housing problem, not one caused by addiction, mental illness or any individual fault or failing. My presentation will explore why we are seeing homelessness like we are today and how we can solve it.
This event is part of the Winter 2025 Speaker series.
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