Across Canada, faith communities are already playing an important role in addressing the social determinants of homelessness. Every day, churches and other faith-based organizations support food security, provide harm reduction and outreach services, offer affordable space for community programs, and create places of belonging, care, and connection. This work is vital. It reflects a deep commitment to human dignity and community well-being, and it continues to make a meaningful difference in neighbourhoods across the country.

The Winnipeg Declaration creates an opportunity to both highlight this leadership and advance what is possible. It recognizes that faith communities are not beginning this work anew. Rather, they are building from a long tradition of responding to local needs with compassion, creativity, and practical support. The Declaration invites bishops, denominational leaders, and other senior faith decision-makers to affirm that legacy, strengthen what is already happening, and help create new pathways for greater impact.

This petition is for members of faith communities, local congregations, clergy, and supporters who want to encourage their bishops and denominational leaders to take the next step. It is a call to honour the good work already underway, while embracing a broader vision for how church land, buildings, and leadership can help address homelessness in Canada.

Why This Matters
Homelessness does not begin only when someone loses housing. It is shaped by a wider set of pressures, including poverty, food insecurity, social isolation, lack of access to supports, and the erosion of community spaces. Faith communities have long responded to these realities. They host meal programs, recovery supports, drop-ins, mutual aid, and community services that help people remain connected and supported. These efforts are an essential part of the broader response to homelessness.

The Winnipeg Declaration builds on this foundation. It recognizes that faith-owned properties are often deeply embedded in neighbourhood life and can do even more to support community well-being. In addition to sustaining existing ministries and community programs, some sites may also present opportunities for affordable housing, supportive housing, and other forms of social purpose redevelopment.

The Declaration also acknowledges that these lands carry complex histories, including histories shaped by colonialism. For that reason, it calls for action grounded in reconciliation, justice, healing, and practical repair. This makes the Winnipeg Declaration not simply a housing proposal, but a broader invitation to steward land and legacy in ways that serve communities more fully.

Why the Winnipeg Declaration?
The name Winnipeg Declaration is both practical and symbolic. Winnipeg sits at the geographic centre of Canada, making it a fitting place to anchor a national call to action. As this campaign seeks to inspire faith communities, denominational leaders, and partners across the country, Winnipeg represents a meaningful point of connection from which a shared national vision can emerge.

Winnipeg is also an important model for the kind of response this declaration hopes to encourage. The city has a strong and active social economy, shaped by Community Economic Development principles that bring together housing, poverty reduction, community well-being, and inner-city revitalization. This work has often been rooted in partnership with Indigenous communities, grassroots organizations, and low-income residents, reflecting a holistic understanding of how social challenges must be addressed. The Winnipeg Declaration seeks to embody this same spirit: one that recognizes homelessness not as a single-issue problem, but as something connected to food security, community care, affordable space, housing, and reconciliation.

Finally, the name reflects the fact that the official launch of the declaration is planned to take place in Winnipeg later this year. Launching in Winnipeg grounds the declaration in a city whose leadership, relationships, and lived experience can help shape a strong national movement.

What We Are Asking For
We call on bishops, denominational leaders, and senior faith decision-makers to support the vision of the Winnipeg Declaration by taking the following steps:

1. Recognize and elevate the work already happening
   Acknowledge the many ways faith communities are already addressing the social determinants of homelessness through food programs, harm reduction, outreach, community care, and affordable space for local initiatives.
2. Create pathways for local faith communities to do more
   Support congregations that want to explore how their land, buildings, and other assets can be used more fully for community benefit, including affordable housing and supportive spaces.
3. Remove internal barriers to action
   Provide clearer policies, processes, and approvals that help local communities move good ideas forward.
4. Encourage partnership and innovation
   Work with municipalities, housing providers, funders, and community organizations to expand the impact faith communities can have.
5. Strengthen accountability and shared learning
   Support the annual gatherings and city roundtables proposed through the Winnipeg Declaration so that faith communities can learn from one another and track progress over time.

Our Vision
We believe faith communities are not relics of the past. They are active partners in building a more just future. Across Canada, their lands, buildings, and leadership can help address homelessness, preserve community space, strengthen neighbourhoods, and support a future where everyone has a safe place to call home.

This petition supports the vision of the Winnipeg Declaration and urges public leaders, institutions, and communities to act with urgency, courage, and collaboration.

Call to Action
Sign this petition to call on bishops and denominational leaders to support the Winnipeg Declaration and build on the work faith communities are already doing to address homelessness and its root causes.

Sign if you believe

• Faith communities are already making an important difference
• Food security, harm reduction, community care, and affordable space all help address the conditions that lead to homelessness
• Church land and buildings can do even more for the common good
• Denominational leaders should support local faith communities in taking action
• Reconciliation, justice, and housing should move forward together