The federal government is rewriting Canada’s National Housing Strategy. Tell them to follow their own law.
Housing was officially recognized as a fundamental human right in Canada after the federal government passed the country’s first right-to-housing law in 2019.
This law requires the federal government to maintain a national housing strategy that: 1) Prioritizes people in greatest housing need; 2) Sets clear goals and timelines to address homelessness, and; 3) improves housing outcomes in the shortest amount of time possible.
The problem: Canada’s National Housing Strategy was never updated to reflect the government’s human rights commitments under this law.
Tell the federal government to get this right
With the current National Housing Strategy expiring soon, the federal government is currently developing Canada’s new Strategy.
The timing couldn’t be more critical. With over 200,000 people experiencing homelessness every year in this country, we cannot risk another national housing policy that leaves people in greatest need behind.
The federal government must follow its own law to uphold housing as the fundamental human right that it is.
The renewed National Housing Strategy must:
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Prioritize people in greatest housing need
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Set clear targets and timelines to end homelessness
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Strengthen renter protections
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Expand community housing
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Deliver on Indigenous housing commitments
- Provide adequate income supports for low-income renters and
- Meaningfully engage tenants, civil society, and people with lived experience of homelessness to develop solutions
📫 Add your voice. Demand housing justice. Send a letter today.
Why we need to prioritize people in greatest housing need.
Canada’s housing and homelessness crisis is not felt equally.
People with disabilities, Indigenous communities, Black and racialized communities, women and gender-diverse people, newcomers, youth, and other marginalized groups are being pushed into homelessness with little to no safe, affordable, and accessible housing to turn to.
With the National Housing Strategy being renewed, we have a once-in-a-decade opportunity to change course.
The courts are taking the right to housing seriously. The federal government should too.
A recent landmark court ruling in Waterloo has made it clear that Canada’s right to housing commitments matter in our legal system.
In the Waterloo case, the Ontario Superior Court relied heavily on Canada’s right-to-housing law and international human rights commitments in recognizing Charter protections for people experiencing homelessness.
The ruling shows that the principles behind the right to housing are increasingly shaping how human rights are understood and protected under Canadian law.
Quick Facts
- Canada’s right-to-housing law, the 2019 National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA), was passed two years after the launch of Canada’s first National Housing Strategy—but the Strategy was never updated to reflect the human rights requirements of the law.
- Canada’s right-to-housing law created the Office of the Federal Housing Advocate, National Housing Council, and review panels. The human rights recommendations that come out of these mechanisms must be considered seriously and, in the case of review panels, must be responded to by the federal government.
- By passing Canada’s right-to-housing law, the federal government has committed to implementing housing as a fundamental human right throughout all its programs, policies, and budgetary decisions—including through its spending power for housing programs in federal and other jurisdictions.
