Anna Dinsdale, community safety and well-being co-ordinator for the City of Prince Albert, said a complex needs shelter in Prince Albert would help with homeless people who are refused shelter services. (Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)

By Susan McNeil

Complex needs

City hopes province will consider P.A. next for complex needs facility

Jan 22, 2025 | 12:21 PM

A less-discussed portion of the City of Prince Albert’s push to manage homelessness is its request to the provincial government to fund a local complex needs shelter.

Two such shelters have been created as test sites in Saskatchewan’s larger cities but both the City of Prince Albert council and other organizations that work with publicly-provided housing think Prince Albert needs one, too.

“Essentially, this is a facility that can provide a multi-disciplinary approach to working with people that have more complex needs and therefore don’t fit into the kind of services that we have available right now,” said Anna Dinsdale, the community safety and well-being manager for the City of Prince Albert.

While no funding or operational commitment has come from the province to date, the city has been advocating behind the scenes for months.

Recent public meetings involving the city, YWCA, police and other organizations have touched just a little on what happens to people who are turned away from the existing temporary shelter or other housing options because they are a danger to the staff or other residents. People who are not calm or in control enough to remain at the emergency overnight shelter are not allowed in but don’t get the help they need waiting in a police cell or the hospital’s waiting room.

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CEO Donna Brook of the YWCA said their shelters do not accept violent or out-of-control people and gang members are also not welcome.

When the public sees a person who is likely homeless and experiencing some sort of psychosis, they frequently assume it is drug-induced, explained Dinsdale. However, old brain injuries, diagnosed conditions such as schizophrenia and even excessive sleeplessness can cause an episode.

Putting that person in an overnight jail cell does not solve the problem but the complex needs shelter could steer them to the right professional to get the right help.

That also saves the public purse as there is a cost associated to operating the cells at the police station and hospital staff spend a lot of time dealing with people taken to the emergency room as a warm-up location.

One hospital worker mentioned exactly that at the first of four public meetings for a permanent homeless shelter recently. His only question was how quickly a shelter could be opened in order to relieve the pressure at the Victoria Hospital.

Saskatchewan Housing funded two complex needs shelters last year; one in Regina and a second in Saskatoon. Both hold 15 people, and both are operated by a private health care company called Edgewood Health Network Canada Inc., based out of Ontario.

Those came at a $19 million cost and are part of an overall provincial approach to homelessness.

People are kept there for 24 hours, the same length of time police can detain intoxicated people in cells. Unlike cells, the shelter will have medical staff as well as connections to treatment for addiction.

There have been occasions, including in Prince Albert, where people have died after being housed in police cells because staff didn’t recognize their needs for emergency health care.

“We would be able to take individuals somewhere they can get the support that they actually need, which means that increases the safety for the community and alleviates the pressure on emergency services we all rely on,” Dinsdale explained.

“We need somewhere we can get people to that we can provide them with a safe environment and really understand what the situation is and them connect them to the service they need.”

READ MORE: Jordan Norfield died of rhabdomyolysis after being housed in PA Police cells during the pandemic.

For now, the focus is on finding a location for a permanent shelter in Prince Albert, but advocates will continue to keep the idea of a complex needs shelter top of mind.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social