Recently, there has been much talk about the polycrisis - an interesting way to describe multiple, sometimes inter-connected big problems. The phrase seems to describe the current state of our world quite well.

With multiple wars, a pandemic that technically isn’t over, pending recession and economic uncertainty, unsafe drug supplies, climate change, growing numbers of homeless neighbours on our streets and in our parks, long overdue and long delayed justice for Indigenous peoples, and an international housing system failure, it certainly feels like we are living in an era of polycrisis.

What if the solutions to a lot of these multiple crises are actually linked?

The CHRA team, along with partners from across the country, has been working on an econometric study that will quantify the link between increasing the supply of community housing and improving economic productivity. How would the way we go about solving these crises change if it’s clear that increasing the number of Canadian households living in community housing demonstrably increases economic productivity and GDP?

We know that increasing the supply of community housing is the strongest response to homelessness. Ample evidence shows that affordable housing, combined with wrap-around supports under a housing-first model is a successful way to support people leaving homelessness.

Community housing is also a path to reconciliation in Canada. Indigenous homelessness is a byproduct of colonialism. The report on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls mentions housing 229 times. Truth, reconciliation, and the right to housing begins with a for-Indigenous, by-Indigenous housing system.

One year ago, the Indigenous Caucus at CHRA hosted a national gathering in Vancouver and launched a movement to create an Indigenous-led national housing centre. After a year of hard work, the National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc (NICHI) has opened its doors and is ready to receive applications and statements of need to deploy an initial round of federal funding for urban, rural, and northern Indigenous housing projects – projects that will help address the urgent, unmet, and disproportionate needs of Indigenous people.

In the first five years of the National Housing Strategy, spending has prioritized private market supply. Recent federal measures, like the GST rebate on rental housing, also favour market-based solutions while resources available to community housing development have shrunk. To tackle the many crises facing our country, we need to reverse that trend.

We must increase investment in community housing to tackle economic uncertainty. A healthy supply of community housing stabilizes the housing market, reduces poverty, and contributes to economic prosperity. Failure to increase the supply of community housing will continue to act as a bottleneck on our economy.

We must increase investment in community housing to end homelessness in Canada. One-off annual programs with short-term federal commitments, like the first three rounds of the Rapid Housing Initiative, do not create a stable and steady new supply of dedicated supportive housing. We can see the result of this lack of sustained investment reflected in the tent encampments and informal settlements popping up across the country. Canada needs dedicated programs to build and sustain supportive housing.

We must increase investment in community housing to create energy-efficient and climate-friendly housing. Community housing providers and CHRA members are at the forefront of creating the next generation of homes – passive house, net-zero, modular and even 3-D printed housing that reduce environmental impact.

We must increase investment in community housing to meet the urgent, unmet, and disproportionate housing needs of Indigenous people. Housing is a right, and Indigenous housing, delivered through Indigenous-led services is a right recognized under both Canadian and international law.

On National Housing Day, we can feel confident that despite many crises facing the world and our country, community housing is one of the solutions. The work of CHRA members is the work of solving these many crises. Community housing is the key to a Canada that is more prosperous, greener, more just, more affordable, and more effective.

 

Ray Sullivan

Executive Director, CHRA

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the launch of the CHRA-Housing Partnership Canada economic study on November 27.