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

On October 19, 2016, the City of Grande Prairie conducted its fifth bi-annual Point in Time Count of homelessness (Count) Grande Prairie coordinates the Count as part of its work supporting Grande Prairie's Five Year Plan to End Homelessness and participation in Alberta's 7 Cities on Housing and homelessness Network.

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.

The City of Grande Prairie conducted its fifth Point in Time Count of homelessness. The Count occurs once every two years and increases understanding of how many people are experiencing homelessness. This was Grande Prairie's most comprehensive Count to date, and the first year respondents had the opportunity to receive follow-up support.

The City of Grande Prairie conducted its sixth bi-annual Point in Time Count of homelessness. Grande Prairie uses the Count to complement other data sources to track progress toward ending homelessness. The 2018 Count built on the methods refinements of 2016, and was another landmark in terms of finding and connecting with people experiencing homelessness.

Annually, service providers in the City meet to plan a Winter Emergency Response (Winter Response) to ensure there are places for people experiencing homelessness to go during the day prior to shelter beds opening. 

Grande Prairie’s 2015-16 Winter Response included a warming centre attached to the Intox/Mat program at Rotary House, a weekend drop-in program with lunch at the Grande Prairie Friendship Centre, a weekday drop-in program at the Saint Lawrence Centre and as-needed financial and Street Outreach Team support for short-term stays at the Parkside Inn.

Homeless Families: An Assessment of Their Assets, Beliefs, and the Requirements to Invoke Change

Housing First's vision is a home for everyone. It seeks to move people experiencing homelessness into appropriate housing first, and then begin to work on the issues that contributed to their homelessness from the stability and safety of a home. Since 2009, 833 people have been served in the Housing First initiative.

Grande Prairie’s Multi-year Plan to End Homelessness aims is to end homelessness in the community by 2014.

Homeless-making processes are part of our housing and social welfare systems. We believe we can end homelessness in our community by using a Housing First approach. The approach puts the highest priority on moving homeless people into permanent housing with the supports necessary to sustain that housing.

This report summarizes some of the themes that have emerged while talking with people without homes in Grande Prairie in the fall of 2014. The main issue identified involved the challenges of finding and paying for affordable, appropriate housing. Housing First was seen as a valuable service to those who had accessed it.