Edmonton's rental market squeezing out Indigenous mothers, advocate says
CBC
After months of homelessness, Edmonton mother-of-five Joanne Skani found a cute, affordable home in the southwest neighbourhood of Allendale.
But when the landlord discovered she received monthly government benefits, Joanne Skani says he peppered her with questions.
Skani's offer to send an email transfer on the spot was refused and the next day she was informed by text that the house had been rented.
"I was like, 'Oh my God, this is not happening to me again'," recalled Skani who is an off-reserve member of Cold Lake First Nations.
Skani and her children have been living in and out of shelters over the past four months. She and her youngest four children, all under the age of seven, are currently staying with a relative. There wasn't enough room for her 16-year-old daughter who is bunking with another family member.
The kids haven't gone to school yet this year because they don't have an address.
"My heart hurts for them," Skani said.
The tightening residential rental market is making it increasingly difficult for Indigenous mothers and other marginalized Edmontonians to rent a home.
A recent assessment by the city of Edmonton paints a grim picture:
One in four households pays more rent than they can afford or live in crowded or unsafe conditions. Of those renters, one third of those households are Indigenous. Half the households are female-led. Larger families have even less options.
Some 49,000 households are currently struggling to find affordable housing. That number is expected to jump to 60,000 households in 2026.
It's an issue social justice advocate Mark Cherrington is increasingly helping his clients navigate.
"When there's such a shortage of accommodations and rental spaces, landlords can cherry-pick," Cherrington said
"And so you get people that have FASD, you have children that are autistic, you have people with mental health barriers and significant medical issues — they're all being pushed aside for poster families and they're ending up on the street."
Some people who work in recycling and waste diversion say more sharps — medical needles used for injections — are ending up in Nova Scotia's waste streams and they think it's time for provincial regulations.
As Doreen Paul scrolls through photos on her phone, Bronson Paul's life flashes by.
Quebec City police have confirmed that the remains recovered from the St. Lawrence River last week are those of Susana Rocha Cruz, who had been missing since mid-January.
The Winnipeg Airports Authority wants to develop land west of Richardson International Airport to make way for a proposed WestJet maintenance facility, sources at city hall said.
Bob Behari is planning his dream project on a prime piece of land overlooking the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon’s Nutana neighbourhood.
Saskatchewan’s Notre Dame Hounds made an unexpected stop in Rathwell, Man., Friday night after their bus went off the road into a snowbank.
Herb Dickieson is no longer in the running to be leader of the New Democratic Party of Prince Edward Island.
A commission reviewing Alberta’s electoral boundaries suggests Edmonton should have 21 ridings — up from its current 20 — but some Edmontonians say the city should have more than that, based on the growing population.
A worsening problem with human feces in and around East Vancouver's Grandview Park became one of the reasons for B.C. resident Zoe Raffard to move out of the city permanently.
In a first step toward modernizing residential care facilities, the City of Hamilton will change the way it funds privately run, subsidized homes.
Days after Manitoba expressed its concerns, Quebec is now taking a shot at Ontario Premier Doug Ford's upcoming ban on Crown Royal whisky made in Amherstburg.
Canmore taxpayers can expect a hit to their wallets in the coming years related to infrastructure costs.
Public servants with Global Affairs Canada (GAC) who have been teleworking full-time for the past several years from cities such as Montreal are now being required to work in offices in the National Capital Region.