People bearing the brunt of the housing crisis need to be at the centre of solutions


November 22, 2024 – Ottawa, Ontario – Office of the Federal Housing Advocate

On National Housing Day, Marie-Josée Houle, Federal Housing Advocate, issues the following statement. A version of this story was published in Le Devoir (French only) on November 22, 2024.

If it feels like the housing and homelessness crisis is never far away from the headlines – or from your own neighbourhood – you're not alone. Opinion polls consistently show that housing affordability and accessing housing that meets their needs are top concerns for most people in Canada.

As governments start to respond and invest resources, they need to understand that a housing crisis is a human rights crisis.

With billions of dollars being spent, we need to make sure this money improves housing opportunities for all – including those who are disadvantaged. The status quo of treating housing as a commodity and catering to investors and developers will not get us there.

We need the right kind of housing and supports that respond to people’s needs. This means letting people at the centre of the problem – who are bearing the brunt of rising rent costs, poor living conditions, and homelessness – contribute to the solutions. This is what a human rights-based approach looks like.

People with lived experience are the experts of their own lives. Not only are they able to articulate what they need and why, but what the solutions are for them to be properly housed. We must engage them and put them at the centre of our policymaking.

So, how do we do this? With the right tools.

Canada took a bold step in recognizing housing as a human right, and we are the only country to have a Federal Housing Advocate. I am an independent, nonpartisan housing and homelessness watchdog.

Hearing first-hand from people who are most disadvantaged is central to my role. I am here to make sure their voices reach decision-makers.

I am also here to work with governments – to give them the research and recommendations they need to implement housing policy that works. Governments can draw on my tools and my work on the ground to understand their obligations and guide their policymaking.

One of those recommendations is for governments to take a human rights-based approach to housing programs. This is a smart decision that will result in real benefits. It makes projects more successful, saves money, and results in better housing outcomes for all.

The encouraging news is that governments are catching on. The federal government is moving forward on its budget promise of $250 million dollars for human-rights based encampment responses, to be matched by the provinces and territories.

This is the result of my recommendations on homeless encampments in Canada, developed after meeting and hearing the stories of more than 300 encampment residents and stakeholders across the country.

The government has recognized that if we want better results, we need to do things differently and put people experiencing homelessness at the centre of solutions. All provinces and territories need to sign on to this approach.

Unfortunately, a role like mine does not exist in any of the provinces or territories.

Creating more Housing Advocates across the country will help drive progress. The Advocate role is a unique bridge between people with lived experience, organizations in the housing and homelessness sector, and decision-makers. They are independent voices who can continue to push governments to do better. These Advocates can focus on issues unique to their regions, and adapt my recommendations locally. This is the type of collaboration, accountability, and expertise we need to make lasting change.

Meaningful engagement is hard work. It takes time because it means building and maintaining trust. But when it is done well, it results in real solutions with real results – instead of band-aid fixes that waste time and taxpayer money, and further harm the people affected.

Like any change, solving the housing crisis and ending homelessness will take advocacy. That is where the “advocate” part of this role comes in. I am here to advocate with and alongside people who are homeless, whose circumstances are precarious, and whose voices are marginalized. Their experiences hold the key to understanding what inequities need to be addressed and what programs will work.

All levels of government need to listen and find solutions that truly improve things for the people affected. They can start by treating housing as a human right.

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Marie-Josée Houle is Canada’s first Federal Housing Advocate, a non-partisan, independent human rights watchdog for housing and homelessness that provides advice and recommendations to the federal Minister responsible for housing.

 

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