Newfoundland and Labrador uprooting unhoused people in rural areas, workers say

Front-line housing workers in central Newfoundland say the province is transporting local homeless people out of their communities to other towns with more services — sometimes buying them bus tickets all the way to St. John's. A view of St. John's, N.L., is seen on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sarah Smellie

ST. JOHN’S — Front-line housing workers in central Newfoundland say the province is transporting local homeless people out of their communities to other towns with more services — sometimes buying them bus tickets all the way to the capital, St. John’s.

Sherri Chippett in Grand Falls-Windsor says people needing housing in her area used to be able to stay in their home communities. Now the province will typically offer them a bed an hour away in Gander, or they’ll be sent to St. John’s, said Chippett, the executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing and Homelessness Network.

Many don’t want to go, she said in a recent interview. They may have family in their town, or medical appointments they can’t miss.

That leaves them with no other options for housing, she said.

“There’s no reason why we should be having someone move out of their communities, away from their supports,” Chippett said. “And then, if they don’t want to do that, they’re no better off from when they first walked in the door.”

The problem has arisen as the province tries to curb its use of hotels and privately run shelters for its growing homeless populations.

Soaring rents, inadequate incomes and evictions — combined with an affordable housing shortage — are leaving an increasing number of people without anywhere to live, according to front-line housing workers across Newfoundland and Labrador interviewed by The Canadian Press.

The problem has outpaced the availability of not-for-profit shelters, forcing the province to turn to hotels and privately run shelters for help.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corp. spent more than $8.1 million on for-profit housing in the 2024-25 fiscal year, according to data obtained through access to information laws. That’s up slightly from nearly $8 million in the previous fiscal year.

But in some areas, spending on hotels and private shelters shrank considerably, particularly in central Newfoundland, in the Grand Falls-Windsor and Gander regions, and in Marystown, on the Burin Peninsula.

For example, the housing corporation shelled out nearly $200,000 in 2023-24 for hotels and private shelters in Grand Falls-Windsor and surrounding communities. That fell to about $89,000 in the following year, the data showed.

The corporation confirmed the spending went down because it was sending people to non-profit shelters in Gander, which is about 75 kilometres east of Grand Falls-Windsor. Thirty-two beds have opened in three non-profit shelters in Gander since 2023, spokesperson Nancy Walsh said in an email.

“If a person in need of shelter wishes to travel to another community where there is available space, we will endeavour to accommodate their choice,” Walsh said.

The province also leased a hotel in St. John’s and opened it as a transition house last year. There were 75 people living there as of this week, Walsh said.

The housing corporation’s response is limited because the government is in “caretaker” mode during an election, Walsh added, which prevents public servants from making comments that could influence the vote.

Chippett said she’d like the government to examine the problems that are leading to shelter use in the first place. For example, there are no limits on rent increases in Newfoundland and Labrador and landlords can evict tenants without giving a reason, Chippett said.

Joan Brown, a housing support worker on the Burin Peninsula, said if there are beds free in St. John’s, the province will send unhoused people in Marystown to the capital.

Everyone has their own circumstances that dictate whether that works for them or not, Brown said.

In Corner Brook, Jade Kearley said housing officials stopped sending local homeless people to St. John’s after advocates argued against it. Accordingly, the cost of emergency housing in Corner Brook hotels hit $1.24 million in 2024-25, up from nearly $750,000 the year before, the housing figures showed.

Kearley, the interagency co-ordinator for the non-profit Community Mental Health Initiative, said the expense is frustrating.

If the government put more money toward helping people afford rent, “it would go a lot longer and a lot further than what we spend on emergency shelters,” Kearley said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2025.

By Sarah Smellie