CHRA Housing Book Club

Join us for the CHRA Housing Book Club, a bi-monthly gathering for housing professionals, advocates, and curious readers alike.

We meet on the second Friday, every other month from 1:30–3:00 p.m. ET to explore and discuss books, Canadian when possible, that dive into the many dimensions of housing issues in Canada.

Hosted by the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, this virtual book club creates space for thoughtful conversation, knowledge-sharing, and connection across the housing sector. Whether you’re a policy wonk, a frontline worker, a student, or just passionate about housing, all are welcome to join the discussion.

Come for the books, stay for the community!

Book club Jan 2026_FBLI (4)

Next Book Club: January 9, 2026 1:30 pm (ET)

WINNER OF THE 2025 TORONTO BOOK AWARD"Striking, elegant." – Publishers Weekly, ★ STARRED ReviewAn activist priest provides sanctuary for an encampment of unhoused people in her churchyard

The housing crisis plaguing major urban centres has sent countless people into the streets. In spring 2022, some of them found their way to the yard beside the Anglican church in Toronto’s Kensington Market, where Maggie Helwig is the priest. They pitched tents, formed an encampment, and settled in. Known as an outspoken social justice activist, Helwig has spent the last three years getting to know the residents and fighting tooth and nail to allow them to stay, battling various authorities that want to clear the yard and keep the results of the housing crisis out of sight and out of mind.

Encampment tells the story of Helwig’s life-long activism as preparation for her fight to keep her churchyard open to people needing a home. More importantly, it introduces us to the Artist, to Jeff, and to Robin: their lives, their challenges, their humanity. It confronts our society’s callousness in allowing so many to go unhoused and demands, by bringing their stories to the fore, that we begin to respond with compassion and grace.

Reviews

WINNER OF THE 2025 TORONTO BOOK AWARD

Shortlisted for the 2025 Toronto Book Awards

One of CBC Books' Canadian books you should be reading in May 2025

One of CBC Book's Canadian nonfiction books to read in spring 2025

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