The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) is deeply concerned by the Trump administration’s decision to criminalize and promote involuntary institutionalization for people experiencing homelessness and substance use issues in the United States.   

The executive order expands the use of policing and institutionalization as a response to homelessness, prioritizes funding for states that treat homelessness as a crime and end housing-based solutions, and halts funding for harm reduction programs – undermining years of evidence-based progress in communities across America.  

This punitive approach abandons proven, housing-focused solutions and will only deepen harm to people while making the homelessness crisis worse. This executive order is forcing the most vulnerable Americans down a path of pain, will make communities less safe, and ultimately won’t work.  

Canada must choose a different path – one that is rooted in our values of compassion, community, and human rights. In Canada, we believe in helping our neighbours, not punishing them.  We urge all levels of government in Canada to reject coercive, enforcement-led responses and instead invest in solutions we know work – building more affordable and supportive housing, expanding Housing First and outreach services, and responding to unsheltered homelessness and encampments with compassion and housing.  

“We all want a solution to homelessness,” said Tim Richter, CEO and President of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness. “But we can’t enforce our way out of this crisis. Displacement and criminalization are cruel, costly, and ineffective.” 

Canada is beginning to see this alarming enforcement-based approach emerge in our own country. Some provinces and cities are increasingly using enforcement and threatening the use of forced treatment as a response to homelessness – echoing Trump’s Executive Order. It doesn’t have to be this way. 

Across the country, cities are proving that housing-focused responses to homelessness and encampments are the most effective. In St. Thomas, Ontario, the police service acknowledged that the City’s investments in supportive housing and a community response unit have played a pivotal role in the decline in police calls in the downtown area – calls for reports of ‘unwanted persons’ have dropped 44% since 2021, and complaints involving drug use have fallen by 67% since 2020. These results show that when communities invest in housing and support – not punishment – everyone benefits.   

Canadians come together to help each other in times of crisis. This is a critical moment for Canada to redefine our path forward – affirming our commitment to solving homelessness and upholding human rights. Let’s make sure that Canada chooses a better path forward and invests in the long-term, compassionate solutions that address the crisis.