The CHRA, the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada are pushing the federal government to commit to long-term investment on the scale needed to tackle the housing crisis in Budget 2017. We are united in the call for a solution that will ensure all Canadians have a safe and affordable place to call home.
There is no question that housing needs are great, especially when considering:
- 235,000 Canadians experience homelessness in a year.
- 1 in 5 renters spend more than half their income on housing.
- 1.5 million households can’t find decent housing they can afford.
- The affordability of housing for low-income families living in social and co-operative housing is uncertain, as federal funding agreements will expire. In the absence of a new federal commitment, by 2020, 175,000 fewer low-income households will be assisted
- compared to 2010.
- Indigenous households living in cities and communities experience higher rates of homelessness and are more likely to be living in precarious housing than non-Indigenous
- Canadians.
- A November 2016 report prepared by Morrison Park Advisors estimates total capital needs of the social housing sector to be in the range of $8.4 billion to $13.6 billion per year.