OTTAWA (May 13, 2025): The National Right to Housing Network (NRHN) congratulates the Honourable Gregor Robertson on his appointment as Canada’s new Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, as well as former housing minister Sean Fraser as the new Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. We are also pleased by the appointment of Minister Rechie Valdez as the Minister of Women and Gender Equality—a position strongly urged by feminist advocates across the country.   

At a time when the housing and homelessness crisis has reached every corner of the country—affecting more than 235,000 people each year—strong, human rights-based leadership from this brand-new government is urgently needed. 

“The federal government committed to upholding housing as a fundamental human right in the 2019 National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA),” says Michele Biss, Executive Director of the National Right to Housing Network. “Now is the time for leadership that will make that right real—particularly for those in greatest need.” 

We are encouraged by Minister Robertson’s history of prioritizing homelessness and affordable housing during his tenure as Mayor of Vancouver. His municipal experience brings valuable frontline insight into the realities of housing need and the urgent gaps in Canada’s housing system. 

If the federal government is truly committed to ending Canada’s housing crisis—which we believe they are—the only way forward is to fully adopt and uphold a rights-based approach to housing; one that aligns with the government’s own legal commitments under the NHSA.

This means: 

• Prioritizing those in greatest housing need in all housing-related programs, policies, and budgetary decisions; 
• Meaningfully engaging people with lived experience of homelessness and housing precarity to develop evidence-based solutions; 
• Implementing the recommendations that come out of review panels (for example on financialization and failure to address homelessness for women and gender-diverse persons – especially Indigenous women and two-spirit persons) and the reviews by the Federal Housing Advocate (for example of government responses to encampments and Métis housing in Saskatchewan), and’;
• Establishing clear, measurable goals and timelines to end homelessness—akin to Canada’s carbon emission reduction targets by 2030—in order to track progress and ensure accountability. 

The status quo is failing. A bold, evidence-based, commitment to the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing is essential to address the root causes of the housing crisis and to deliver real, lasting change in this country.

The NRHN looks forward to working with Minister Robertson and the federal government to develop these solutions to make housing truly affordable and accessible for everyone in Canada. 

For more information visit, www.housingrights.ca 

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For more information, contact:

Jessica Tan
Communications Lead
Phone: 613-621-4575
Email: jessica@housingrights.ca