Social service workers in Thunder Bay, Ont., aim to reduce voting barriers for unhoused people

Staff at an overnight shelter in Thunder Bay, Ont., are calling on Elections Canada to make it easier for people experiencing homelessness to cast their ballots in the federal election.

Shelter House is working alongside NorWest Community Health Centres (NWCHC) in the northwestern Ontario city to help unhoused people participate in Monday's vote. 

As was the case in the Ontario election, social service organizations can sign identification confirmation letters for people who don't have a permanent address or piece of identification. Clients can take these letters to a polling station in lieu of a voter information card.

However, while only one piece of ID was needed to vote provincially, two pieces of documentation are needed to cast a ballot in the federal election.

Anyone without a permanent address can use social benefit cheques, jail release papers or a label on a prescription container as identification, for examples.

"These things sound like they're accommodating to an individual that's never experienced homelessness or lived through substance use challenges, but really those are just adding insult to injury," said Champagne Thomson, development manager at Shelter House.

A full list of accepted ID can be found on Elections Canada's website.

In a city where at least 550 people are known to be experiencing homelessness, according to the latest point-in-time count, Thomson said she wants Elections Canada to accept one piece of ID from voters instead of two.

"It's very challenging as someone on our side trying to get people as excited, energized out there to vote," she said. "The reception is very different because people are automatically just being slapped in the face with barriers as opposed to opportunity."

More than three-quarters of people known to be homeless in Thunder Bay are Indigenous, and Thomson said that also adds to the complexities of voting access.

"Now [in] the federal election, which is going to be the one that impacts Indigenous affairs the most, Indigenous people are yet again being disproportionately disenfranchised by the lack of access, the lack of accessibility," Thomson said. 

"We also look at disproportionate rates of incarceration. We look at all of these different systemic factors and realize that with this quick turnaround time, we're not able to get ahead of it."

CBC News received an emailed response from Richard Théoret, regional media adviser for Elections Canada, on Tuesday regarding voting barriers relating to unhoused people.

Théoret explained the process of receiving a letter of confirmation of residence from somewhere that "offers food, housing or other social services," such as Shelter House. He said people can also use their birth certificate or health card as identification.