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By Curtis Galbraith

Emergency Shelter

Wapiti Community Support Association worried about cut in provincial funding

Mar 23, 2026 | 3:15 PM

The Wapiti Community Support Association says it is facing what it calls “significant impacts to its housing-focused shelter services” after a cut in provincial funding.

The association says it has lost $1.45 million, one-third of its resources for emergency shelter.

An email from the organization says this has been important in helping people move from homelessness into stable housing.

The money paid for case management services at the emergency shelter and the Foundations Substance-Free Transitional Housing Program, a 10-bed home with 24/7 services for those trying to stay sober “while working towards stability.”

The association says the Wapiti House Case Management team currently has 176 cases and that emergency shelter services operated at 113 per cent capacity over the past year.

Seven programs are affected, including:

• Foundations Substance-Free Transitional Housing Program

• Wapiti House and Saint Lawrence Centre Case Management Team (Outreach)

• Wapiti House Trauma Counselling

• Shelter Diversion and Relocation Activities

• ID Program

• Emergency Housing Support Fund

• Partial Wapiti House Security Services

The association says it fears ” a significant rise in social disorder ” downtown as a result of this cut, adding in a news release that this will “increase the number of individuals remaining in or returning to homelessness.”