MONCTON, N.B. – A federally-funded homelessness project shows promising results that could change the way the issue is treated in Moncton and across the country.

Jimmy Bourque,a principle investigator for ‘At Home/Chez Soi,’ says what they’ve found so far is that the mentally ill participants fared much better when they had a roof over their heads and proper support.

Bourque says the data can be used to illustrate how the so-called ‘home-first approach’ is not just the moral thing to do … it’s economical as well.

“When you look across Canada, you look at the ER visits, you look at incarcerations, contact with police.  I think you can definitely make this argument, especially for the people with the highest need.”

The study has been carried out in large urban centres like Toronto and Vancouver with similar results to those in Moncton.