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How governments can implement a human rights-based approach and collaborate to address the housing crisis
Good morning everyone.
Honourable Ministers, thank you for this invitation.
I am Marie-Josée Houle, and I serve as Canada's Federal Housing Advocate.
I acknowledge those gathered in Regina on Treaty 4 Territory, the original lands of the Cree, Saulteaux, Dakota, Nakota, Lakota, and homeland of the Métis.
I join you today from Ottawa, the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe.
This land acknowledgement reflects our shared commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.
Our discussions are happening as Canada faces significant geopolitical disruptions.
Here at home, the housing crisis and cost-of-living challenges are driving people into poverty, food insecurity, and growing homelessness.
This disproportionately impacts people already facing systemic barriers based on Indigenous identity, race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age and other grounds.
That is why the human right to housing is essential to building a stronger Canada.
When everyone has stable, adequate, and affordable housing, it unlocks potential – for people, for communities, and for the economy.
We are also at a pivotal policy moment as federal, provincial and territorial governments prepare to shape the next National Housing Strategy.
To succeed, it must remain grounded in human rights.
I am encouraged we are here today. I will highlight three key priorities for FPT governments as they work to address the housing and homelessness crisis:
Homelessness can happen to anyone. Countless people in Canada are one missed pay cheque or emergency away from living on the street.
In Victoria, I met an older man living in a homeless encampment after a workplace injury. He had worked and paid taxes all his life. He lost his wife to cancer, then experienced a workplace accident. The systems failed to protect him at work, then protect him from poverty, then protect him from homelessness.
Living in the encampment, he desperately did not want people in the community to fear him, and he was scared to be evicted from his campsite, where he had access to washrooms, food and community support. At the end of the conversation, he started to cry because he did not want to end his life in that camp.
His story is unfortunately not unique – and reminds us what is at stake.
Hearing directly from people experiencing homelessness is part of my legislated mandate – but it is also a crucial tool to identify solutions.
This is at the heart of what a human rights-based approach is about, and these lived experiences guide my work.
It is my hope that the evidence-based guidance my team and I produce are a resource for you and your governments.
To my first point: Recognizing the right to housing in law is a key way governments can address the housing and homelessness crisis.
Canada has already taken an important step by recognizing housing as a fundamental human right in the 2019 National Housing Strategy Act. The Act requires a human rights-based approach to housing policy in Canada – including by progressively realizing the right to housing, prioritizing those in greatest need, and measuring results.
The Act is a concrete example of Canada implementing United Nations recommendations and reinforcing accountability to advance the right to adequate housing.
Housing is a basic human right, and it is the foundation for many others...
... from the rights to vote, to work and to get an education...
... to the rights to health and non-discrimination.
And, it is a key to upholding Indigenous rights, including Canada's commitments under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
Formally recognizing the right to housing in provincial and territorial law is a meaningful first step that governments can take. Creating and funding provincial and territorial housing advocate positions similar to mine can help drive progress.
In fact, the Government of the Northwest Territories is exploring how to implement the right to adequate housing and I was pleased to be invited to share my insights with MLAs.
A human rights-based approach is also about accountability. That includes:
This approach designs solutions that respond to people's needs. It reflects outcomes for people – not just outputs.
Incorporating human-rights based approaches is not just the right thing to do – it is smart policy for governments.
To my second idea: Focusing housing solutions on those in greatest need and protecting their rights will help governments address the housing and homelessness crisis.
First, governments at all levels should invest in creating more non-market and supportive housing that meets the definition of adequacy to strengthen Canada's housing system.
Non-market housing is permanently affordable, while supportive housing gives people the tools they need to be housed successfully. It's also important to preserve the existing affordable housing we already have.
Backed by our research, I have urged the federal government to commit to ensuring at least 20% of all housing in Canada is non-market by 2055. It's a goal that goes hand in hand with building a more resilient Canada.
Build Canada Homes' focus on non-market and supportive housing is encouraging. I look forward to FPT collaboration in its rollout, and I will continue to provide guidance to the federal government on how to embed human rights into the work of Build Canada Homes.
Second, strengthening protections for renters will help keep people housed and ensure they have the same rights across jurisdictions. This looks like:
... better safeguards against unfair evictions and renovictions
... preventing excessive rent increases
... and offering accessible dispute resolution processes.
As the cost-of-living crisis deepens affordability challenges, I have also recommended strengthening the Canada Housing Benefit – a crucial lifeline for low-income renters.
Revising provincial and territorial income assistance programs in alignment with these changes will make a real difference – ultimately preventing people from losing their homes.
And third, ending forced evictions of homeless encampments and supporting human rights-based responses instead will help protect people's rights and make progress on homelessness.
My national review of homeless encampments underscores that forced evictions cause harm and worsen homelessness.
They destabilize people, displace them from their outreach workers, and make it harder to attain permanent housing.
All governments should respond to encampments with coordinated, human rights-based approaches.
Together, these actions can align federal, provincial, and territorial policies with Canada's human rights commitments to deliver real change.
This brings us to the path forward.
Canada's governments must work together to build a rights-based National Housing Strategy. The Strategy can deliver measurable results by integrating the human rights-based approaches I have outlined today, including:
A recent recommendation from the Universal Periodic Review called on Canada to: "Step up efforts to ensure the right to adequate housing and achieve clear goals for eliminating all forms of homelessness in accordance with the National Housing Strategy Act".
The renewed National Housing Strategy should set explicit targets to end homelessness, and track progress with strong accountability measures.
Achieving this will require Canada's federal, provincial and territorial governments to work together. Ministers, your leadership is essential. Housing is a human right and must be a shared responsibility.
The housing and homelessness crisis is complex, but the path forward is clear: A human rights-based approach delivers meaningful, lasting results.
I invite Canada's governments, and our Honourable Ministers, to consider the solutions I have highlighted today. These recommendations are available in more detail in my reports, and I am happy to discuss them with you.
As you move forward, remember the man I met in Victoria – and the many others like him.
Doing all that we can so that everyone can have a place to call home is how we build a stronger Canada.
Thank you. I remain available to work with you to advance the human right to housing, and I look forward to your questions.