Homelessness Systems Planning

The Coming Together to End Homelessness: Hamilton’s Systems Planning Framework (PDF, 17 MB) sets a path forward to end chronic homelessness by 2025. It serves as a roadmap to guide municipal decision-makers, staff, social service providers and community organizations in addressing the needs of individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

The framework re-envisions the way services are delivered and policies are implemented across Hamilton’s homeless-serving system.

While the homeless-serving system responds to immediate needs to divert people from homelessness and rapidly houses those in need of enhanced supports, partners across the broader social safety net contribute to a sustainable, seamless response that ensures prevention and appropriate housing are in place to reduce the risk of homelessness, prevent homelessness whenever possible, or otherwise ensure it is a rare, brief and non-reoccurring experience.

 The framework serves two main purposes:

• To detail Hamilton’s s roadmap to ending homelessness within the context of the broader social safety net; and,
• To outline a Systems Planning Framework to guide the design of the City’s investments in homelessness and enhance overall coordination of diverse resources locally to meet systems planning goals.

Request for Information

The City of Hamilton, Housing Services Division, is developing a Request for Proposals to enhance sheltering services and bed capacity in the Women’s Emergency Shelter System. In preparation for this RFP, the City is seeking information about emergency shelter services for cis-women, trans-feminine, trans-masculine and non-binary adults. Responses from individuals, households or organizations who identify as lived/living experience of homelessness, Indigenous, or member(s) of a racialized community, and/or presently provide gender-based services to vulnerable populations are sought. Responses that specifically address the needs of Indigenous and racialized communities are encouraged.  

Questionnaires should not exceed three pages in total and will be accepted two weeks from the public posting date. Responses and questions can be submitted to the [email protected] general mailbox.

Download the Women’s Emergency Shelter System Enhancements Request for Information document (PDF, 37 KB)