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Like most things, the answer is complicated. The biggest issue I found from reading the article is the DIC is too big and is trying to do too much for too many. To me, the answer seems to be to divide and concur.

Depending on the service being provided I think it could be easier to get some things through in certain places. If you're talking first touch services with some beds, you can maybe spread it out to a couple locations downtown and in the core. I know they mentioned having funding for more, what I think they called, day spaces. Maybe have a couple of existing day spaces and new ones also be a place someone can spend the night. Those spaces should be pretty secure, by that I mean searching people so the people that are there are safe. The search doesn't have to be invasive or undignified, but it sounds like it is a bit of what we don't know can't hurt us mentality right now. That might mean some people don't come and get those first touch services, but I think it is worth it if other people feel safe.

For housing, which the article says they have a 95% success rate, no one is really going to want that near them because of the stigma, but this is one of things as a Province/City you kind of just have to push them through. As the lady said, they're there anyways do you want them in this space or in your space.

There are two goals that can be accomplished with breaking up the DIC and one really leads to the other, better services for their clients and a less concentrated homeless population in one area, an area that has received significant public investment.
 
Have a friend in Red Deer, mentioned they have approved a massive shelter/social services center in a light industrial park. Over time, every social service in one location. They took over a warehouse/office annex, and they are going to renovate it into housing/meal center, housing services, ect... It's over a km away from any housing, had some opposition from local business, but, was approved. found the site... https://homelessnessreddeer.com/nexus/
 
Im not a policy expert, but I feel like step 1 would be to break up the DIC into many smaller components that are spread out. There is no way in hell something at the scale of the current DIC could be built anywhere today, and I don't even think it should get built. Centralizing all of those service in a single location is an awful idea. Far better to spread it out into many smaller locations which would make them more accessible and lessen the impact of them
 
Surrealplaces said:
IIRC, the Alberta government is the single largest donor, so this could very well be something that happens. I've always felt 3 or 4 smaller DICs would be better, but the question is where to put them. As Nimbus mentioned, there will be some heavy opposition to any new locations.
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This is likely the best solution, have more smaller centers spread out through the city, not one massive location. I'd expect something in the industrial areas, and maybe something near Chinook.
 
CallmeCatbread said:
Im not a policy expert, but I feel like step 1 would be to break up the DIC into many smaller components that are spread out. There is no way in hell something at the scale of the current DIC could be built anywhere today, and I don't even think it should get built. Centralizing all of those service in a single location is an awful idea. Far better to spread it out into many smaller locations which would make them more accessible and lessen the impact of them
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Part of the challenge of spreading out services is that then someone needs to travel long distances to access them. These people are also not the most informed, they go to the DIC because that's the default, then get told what they need is on the other side of downtown, a 30 minute walk in the winter. I think before we try these techniques, we have to get better at building affordable housing. Bridgeland Place redevelopment, Calgary Housing submitted a DP in December 2025, when the facility was fully closed by 2023. We need to get better at building housing so people that are only homeless can leave the DIC and not fall further in despair
 
trtcttc said:
We need to get better at building housing so people that are only homeless can leave the DIC and not fall further in despair
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I suspect the province's hope is that the recovery communities will break the cycle, and enable the DIC to live the mission where the 5% not diverted to housing no longer accumulates into a large persistently unhoused population.
 
darwink said:
I suspect the province's hope is that the recovery communities will break the cycle, and enable the DIC to live the mission where the 5% not diverted to housing no longer accumulates into a large persistently unhoused population.
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The scale of the recovery communities is just not large enough to support the need. But assuming it works well, many of these people are going to be in precarious employment. Without supportive housing, they could end up on the streets again in a few months. The goal is that losing a paycheck for a couple months doesn't put you on the street.
 
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