The Lighthouse emergency shelter in Saskatoon says it is doing everything it can to find beds for a group of people camped outside on the street.

In late September, the province cracked down on the shelter's increasing use of emergency access per diems from the Ministry of Social Services.

It said The Lighthouse had been claiming per diems to shelter people who were being funded to stay elsewhere long-term.

The shelter has had to turn people away if they cannot access the right Social Services per diems.

Saskatoon's Lighthouse shelter, which says it is having to turn people away due to a government crackdown on access to Social Services funding. (Albert Couillard/CBC Radio-Canada)

Now a group of people are camping on the street near the facility.

Lighthouse client care co-ordinator Holly Lucas said the shelter was working hard to connect those people to social services or redirect them to other services.

Lucas said it was true that some of the shelter's clients had an address but there were a number of reasons they might not be able to go home.

"For tonight, and safety, they can't go there," she said.

"They can't remember where they live. All of those different things add up to someone bringing that individual or that individual bringing himself to our doors.

"And so the question is, as a society do we say go away, or do we house them?"

Societal change

Shaun Dyck, who is the executive director of the Saskatchewan Housing Initiatives Program, said his organization was working to get emergency funding to cover people when they could not pay their rent.

Overall, he wants to see more flexibility in people's attitudes towards the homeless community.

"As a society, we need to realize that it's best to keep people housed and safe. It creates healthy outcomes and that's what we need."