Cat. No.: HR34-22/2024E-PDF
ISBN: 978-0-660-71013-6
Executive summary
For decades, housing policy in Canada has fostered a system that treats housing as a commodity and a means for some to grow wealth – while others fall further behind and are unable to keep a roof over their head. There is an urgent need to adjust course to address these inequities, protect tenants, and ensure that public funds are used for public good. Our housing system should ensure that everyone can enjoy their human right to adequate housing.
On National (Right to) Housing Day on November 22, 2023, the Federal Housing Advocate co-hosted a webinar entitled “Making the Best of Public Money for Public Good” with the National Right to Housing Network. The event brought together experts in the field to share their knowledge and advice on how to scale up non-market housing in Canada. It also gave participants the opportunity to share their ideas.
The event began with housing rights advocate, researcher, and adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa Dr. Carolyn Whitzman, who provided a synopsis of her latest research on housing need using a rights-based approach. Dr. Whitzman found that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) estimated need of 5.8 million new homes to be built by 2031 falls short. Using a rights-based calculation of housing need, Dr. Whitzman found a current deficit of 3 million homes affordable to very low- and low-income households and 1.3 million homes affordable to moderate- and median-income households.
The purpose of the webinar was to call on the federal government to introduce a human rights-based approach to housing supply and immediately scale up the development and acquisition of non-market housing. Panelists Stéphan Corriveau, Margaret Pfoh, and Olga Tasci discussed several strategies to this end, including:
National Housing Strategy: Investments through the National Housing Strategy need to prioritize non-market housing so it represents at least 20% of the rental housing stock in Canada. The Strategy should be refocused to address the needs of those who are most affected by the housing crisis.
Support for the sector: The non-market housing sector needs to be supported through government investments to ensure the proper management of their properties and governance of their organizations, and grow the capacity for housing development and business acumen of the sector.
Non-market building and acquisition: Legislative change needs to create mechanisms to allow non-market providers to leverage their assets worth billions of dollars to get the capital to build and acquire more properties. Community land trusts need to be recognized as important vehicles to secure public land for development on behalf of the non-market providers.
Collaboration between all levels of government: There is a need for all levels of government to uphold their human rights obligations, including the human right to adequate housing as defined in international and domestic law. There is an urgent need for inclusive, rights-based solutions that address the diverse and pressing housing needs across Canada.
Promote the right to housing: While deeply rooted shifts are needed to create community-held, public, and non-market housing, all seven elements of adequate housing must be respected to realize the human right to housing. This includes governments respecting the duty to consult and engaging meaningfully with urban Indigenous people facing housing need.
Audience members contributed to the discussion through the chat and raised concerns around subjects such as disability and accessibility, supporting and empowering tenants, and the need for disaggregated data on housing inequities experienced by racialized people.
Efforts to scale-up non-market housing must be prioritized at all levels of government, with strong leadership provided by the federal government. This should include substantial federal funding for provinces and territories to urgently prioritize and develop non-market housing suitable for their jurisdictions.