In 2020, Ottawa became the first city in Canada to declare a housing and homelessness emergency, when on any given night, an average of 1,900 people including children were staying in a shelter.
And this problem is being seen across the nation. In Canada, more than 235,000 individuals experience homelessness every year with over 30 per cent being chronically homeless meaning they spend more than 180 days a year in emergency housing or shelters.
In collaboration with the City of Ottawa, Carleton University researcher Majid Komeili is developing an AI-powered tool that will predict an individual's risk of becoming chronically homeless to aid in early and effective intervention.
"The tool will help social service workers provide the necessary resources in a timely manner to stabilize their housing, enhance social inclusion and ultimately reduce the likelihood of the recurrence of homelessness," says Komeili, an associate professor in Carleton's School of Computer Science.
"The City of Ottawa is committed to ending chronic homelessness through our 10-Year Housing and Homelessness plan. With this project, we are hoping to understand whether our administrative data can provide deeper insights into the community's needs and how those can be addressed," says Kale Brown, Manager of Homelessness System and Operations for the City of Ottawa.
