OCYA report: Youth homelessness affected more than 100 young Albertans in 2025
Alberta OCYA: youth homelessness affected 100+ young people in 2025; report warns gaps in child intervention, shelter capacity and transition-to-adult supports.
Alberta’s Office of the Child and Youth Advocate says youth homelessness touched more than 100 young people in 2025, exposing systemic gaps in child intervention, shelters and transition supports. The OCYA found that homelessness was a factor in a significant portion of its reviews into deaths and serious injuries last year. The report calls for a youth-specific homelessness strategy and urgent changes across several provincial ministries.
Scope of OCYA reviews and unhoused youth
The OCYA released 68 reviews in 2025 into deaths or serious injuries of children and youth, and found 42 of those young people had experienced homelessness in some form. Of those 42, 32 had been staying in shelters or living outside at the time concerns were identified. Separately, the office reported it advocated for more than 100 youths who were facing homelessness during the year.
Engagement with young people and stakeholders
The review process began in July 2025 and included interviews and consultations across the province. The OCYA heard directly from 156 young people aged 12 to 24 who were currently or previously unhoused, and from 170 stakeholders including service providers and those with lived experience. Those conversations informed the findings and the recommendations set out to address immediate and systemic needs.
Personal stories underscore early and repeated homelessness
The report includes stark personal histories that illustrate the problem’s depth. One participant said they were first unhoused at eight years old, while another reported becoming homeless at 14 after fleeing an abusive household and later staying with friends or in a youth shelter. A 20-year-old interviewed by the OCYA summed it up: “Many of us didn’t choose this,” reflecting how family breakdown, neglect and other factors drove young people into homelessness.
System gaps in child intervention and return-to-home practices
OCYA found that children’s intervention did not consistently take place when youth were unsafe, and that some young people were told to return to family homes without resolving the issues that led them to leave. The report highlights cases where underlying problems such as parental incapacity, conflict, neglect or abuse were not effectively addressed before reunification was pursued. These failures contributed to repeated episodes of homelessness for many young people.
Recommendations for a youth-specific homelessness strategy
To respond to the findings, the OCYA set out four core recommendations. The office urged the province to develop a youth-specific homelessness strategy that includes improved data collection, public reporting and clear performance measures. It recommended expanding shelter capacity tailored to developmental needs and increasing supports that link young people to housing, health and social services. The OCYA also called for better alignment of the Transition to Adulthood Program with the housing standards set out in the Equitable Standards for Transitions to Adulthood for Youth in Care.
Accountability expectations for provincial ministries
The report asks several ministries to publicly report on their efforts to prevent youth homelessness and to detail targeted prevention, early intervention and family supports. Specifically, the ministries of children and family services, mental health and addiction, and arts, culture and status of women were urged to disclose how their programs are addressing youth homelessness. The OCYA framed public reporting as essential to tracking progress and identifying gaps across systems that serve young people.
The child and youth advocate, Terri Pelton, said plainly in the report that “Youth homelessness must end,” and the recommendation package aims to give governments the tools to act on that mandate. The report links persistent homelessness among young people to intersecting failures in child intervention, housing policy and supports for young adults aged 18 to 24. It stresses that shelter and housing services for that age group must be developmentally appropriate and connected to resources that support education, mental health and employment.
The OCYA’s findings add to growing calls from service providers and advocates for a coordinated provincial response that prevents young people from falling through system cracks. Implementing the recommended youth homelessness strategy would require cross-ministry cooperation, increased shelter capacity and better data to guide policy. With concrete reporting requirements and program alignments, the report argues, Alberta could reduce the number of young people living without stable housing and address the risks the OCYA documented in its 2025 reviews.
