Indigenous Caucus

The Indigenous Housing Caucus was established in 2013 at our annual Congress on Housing and Homelessness in recognition of the large number of Indigenous-led and Indigenous-serving organizations who are members and wanted to work together for better housing for northern, rural, and urban First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples. Indigenous housing and homelessness service providers across the country face a number of challenges to which the Indigenous Caucus is responding with resourcefulness, good management and innovation. 

Since 2013, the Indigenous Caucus has grown both in size and influence, becoming a credible body for developing and providing Indigenous policy advice on housing and homelessness.  The Indigenous Caucus meets together in person once a year at Indigenous Housing Caucus Day.  Throughout the remainder of the year the interests, feedback, advice, and recommendations communicated on Caucus Day is represented and actioned by CHRA’s Indigenous Housing Caucus Working Group.  The Working Group assembles via monthly conference calls to advise and provide Indigenous perspectives on emerging national housing and homelessness issues to CHRA, as well as provide advocacy support and propose research projects exploring various facets of Indigenous housing and homelessness issues.  

• Stéphan Corriveau, CHRA Board President, and Director General of Réseau québécois des OSBL d’habitation
• Pamela Hine, CHRA Regional Director for the Northern Territories, and President of Yukon Housing Corporation
• Margaret Pfoh, CHRA Regional Director for B.C., and CEO of Aboriginal Housing Management Association
• David Eddy, CEO of the Vancouver Native Housing Society
• Richard George, President of the Vancouver Native Housing Society
• Susan McGee, CHRA Regional Director for Alberta, and CEO of Homeward Trust Edmonton
• Marc Maracle, Executive Director of Gignul Non-Profit Housing Corporation
• Justin Marchand, Executive Director of Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services
• Christin Swim, General Manager of Skigin-Elnoog Housing Corporation
• Phil Brown, former CHRA Board President
• Louise Atkins, former volunteer CHRA Indigenous Caucus Coordinator  

INDIGENOUS HOUSING CAUCUS DAY

Caucus Day takes place in conjunction with CHRA’s annual Congress on Housing and Homelessness. It is a full-day collaborative forum attended by over 150 delegates from across Canada, ranging from urban and regional non-profit Indigenous Housing corporations, local homelessness service providers and regional homelessness coordinators, representatives of all orders of government, and private sector actors in academia and business. 

Caucus Day is a platform to network, share information, highlight Indigenous examples of effective housing management and sector innovation, and provide input and direction on CHRA’s Indigenous initiatives and advocacy work. Caucus Day 2019 will be taking place in Victoria, B.C on 02 April 2019. Find out more about 2019 programming.

Indigenous Caucus Day summary reports

• Highlights Report 2019
• Highlights Report 2018
• Highlights Report 2017 (pdf)
• Highlights Report 2016 (pdf)
• Highlights Report 2015 (pdf)

ADVOCACY AND RESEARCH

The Indigenous Caucus is an invaluable resource which helps inform and support broader CHRA advocacy and research with respect to Indigenous housing issues.

A For Indigenous By Indigenous National Housing Strategy

In June 2018 CHRA and CHRA’s Indigenous Housing Caucus Working Group released a “For Indigenous, By Indigenous National Housing Strategy” calling on the government to address the housing needs of urban, rural and northern Indigenous families and individuals, including the disproportionate representation of Indigenous Peoples living in homelessness and core housing.

Read the full Strategy (pdf)

The federal National Housing Strategy unveiled in November 2017 committed to working toward co-developing three distinctions-based First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation housing strategies. However, the Government of Canada’s distinctions-based approach risks creating a large service gap for the 87 per cent of Indigenous Peoples not living on reserve lands, but in the urban, rural and northern parts of Canada.  To eliminate the service gap, the paper asserts that the federal government must acknowledge and fund a fourth strategy for Indigenous households in need of housing in urban, rural and northern areas.

2017 Policy Paper

The “For Indigenous, By Indigenous” Strategy is the culmination of a two-year process involving the Indigenous Caucus. CHRA and the Indigenous Caucus’ first iteration of a strategy to bring forward the housing needs of urban and rural Indigenous Peoples began at Indigenous Housing Caucus Day in 2016 and 2017. Following discussions and deliberations, as well as a broader research document, CHRA used the input gathered from Caucus Day delegates to develop a series of recommendations for a distinct urban and rural Indigenous Housing Strategy. The Indigenous Caucus submitted the policy paper containing recommendations to the Government of Canada in June 2017, which was widely shared and distributed to politicians and senior decision makers.

Read the Policy Paper containing Recommendations for an Urban and Rural Indigenous Housing Strategy (pdf)

Resolution to Support an Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy

1. Campaign – within Canadian society generally, and to the Government of Canada specifically – to adhere to the concept that the only acceptable outcome of the National Housing Strategy regarding Indigenous Peoples is to bring their housing standard to that of non-Indigenous Canadians within the next 10 years;
2. Call on the Government of Canada to commit the necessary resources to achieve this goal; and,
3. Call on the Government of Canada to develop a fourth Indigenous Housing Strategy to acknowledge, respect and address the housing needs of Indigenous households living in the urban, rural, and northern areas of Canada.

General Research

The following CHRA research projects, initiatives and reports relate to Indigenous housing, homelessness and intersecting issues. 

Last Modified: March 2019