encampments

Officials say that during the call, Jason Nixon, Alberta's minister of seniors, community and social services, expressed his government's continued willingness to partner with Ottawa and to cost-match the additional federal funding.

In the concrete bowels of Canada Place in downtown Vancouver, below a luxury hotel and near the berths of ocean liners, are the charred signs of a Christmas Day tragedy.

Homeless encampments in Canada amount to a human rights crisis exacerbated by threats of violent displacement and inaction of government at all levels, the federal housing advocate said Thursday as she launched a review of the issue.

Police have become de facto social workers for people who lack support services while struggling with homelessness, mental illness and substance use, a spokesman for the Vancouver Police Department says.

Advocates for Montreal's homeless residents ramped up critiques of Parks Canada over the weekend, saying a series of local camping events the agency has scheduled throughout the summer set a double standard between those with financial means and those without.