About Us

In 2019, Canada legally committed to the human right to housing in its National Housing Strategy Act. The National Right to Housing Network (NRHN) is a broad-based, grassroots civil society network established to fully realize the right to adequate housing in Canada. We have two goals:

1. To advise and strengthen Canada’s infrastructure for the implementation and growth of Canada’s commitment to housing as a fundamental human right, and;

2. To build a community-based movement and culture that supports the meaningful implementation of the right to housing.

As the connective tissue for the housing justice movement, our Network is guided by the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA) and international human rights law and is informed by first voice advocates and rights holders. We are focused on amplifying the voices of historically marginalized populations including women and gender-diverse persons, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and racialized persons. Using a human rights-based, collaborative, and dynamic structure, we drive forward the following objectives: 

Using a human rights-based, collaborative, and dynamic structure, we drive forward the following objectives: 

• Foster Collaborative Relationships with Partners and NHSA bodies: Strengthen relationships and create mechanisms for dialogue with Office of the Federal Housing Advocate (OFHA), National Housing Council and partners to demonstrate proof of concept, i.e. to ensure NHSA processes are meaningful in practically advancing the right to housing.
• Engage Federal Policy Makers: Build relationships, advocate, and promote dialogue with federal, bureaucratic and political actors from all parties to promote accountability to the meaningful implementation of the right to housing throughout all policies, budgets, laws, and programs.
• Community Engagement and Advocacy: Connect rights holders, community organizations and civil society to bring forth claims, evidence and issues to the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA) and United Nations (UN) bodies through collaboration, capacity-building and education initiatives.
• Support Strategic Litigation: Hold inclusive and collaborative spaces to strengthen the bonds within the legal community and advance strategic litigation efforts in pursuit of housing justice for marginalized communities.

The NRHN fills a critical role as a core convener and representative of equity, rights-based analysis, engagement, and advocacy around housing to ensure that the historic commitments in the legislated NHSA are meaningfully realized – particularly for marginalized groups who have borne the brunt of Canada’s housing crisis.