On October 19, 2016, the second provincially-coordinated Point-In-Time Homelessness Count was conducted in each community. This count serves two important functions: it provides a current snapshot of our overall homeless population and enables us to examine how this population changes over time. By aligning methods across Alberta’s cities, we can examine trends using similar definitions. Ultimately, this helps us inform solutions to support the goal of ending homelessness in our communities.

2016 was Grande Prairie’s most comprehensive Count to date, and the first year offering survey respondents follow-up support from Housing First programs and/or the Street Outreach Team. A Count serves two important functions: it provides a current snapshot of the city’s homeless population, and shows how homelessness changes over time, informing program and policy.

The 2014 Alberta Point-in-Time Homeless Count enumerated 6,663 1 individuals experiencing homelessness across seven cities.

In 2010, the City of Grande Prairie contracted with Robyn Newton Research & Consulting to create an Affordable Housing Master Plan to provide guidance for the City on how to preserve and enhance the affordability of housing in the City of Grande Prairie.

The development of the Grande Prairie Integrated Coordinated Access Model was led by the City of Grande Prairie with extensive input from many local organizations and community members.

The six outcomes in this report showcase progress made by the Homeless Initiative during 2018-2019.

The Housing First program involves participants in achieving the stability needed to maintain permanent housing. It also looks upstream at homelessness, with the Housing Loss Prevention program and Youth Transition House.