Right to Housing is Realized
Everyone has a home. There is adequate, affordable secure housing for all, free from discrimination, and reflecting the needs of communities and neighbourhoods.
“We need to have an emergency place for people to go. Right now, who’s got the most emergency? People sleeping rough, people sleeping out of their cars. […] Get something on the go and then turn it into something better. Get something going that will help to free people first, and then keep growing.” – St. Stephen, NB
“With the landlords, you get punished for being a youth in care, you get punished for being in poverty.” -Winnipeg, MB
“You’re trying to get your kid to school and trying to get them a decent home but when you come back up from down south there’s nothing here. There’s no housing. There’s nothing. I waited two years for a house. Me and my son lived in a hotel room.” -Carcross, YK
“They don’t fix [units] for people … they know a lot of us need a home to live in, right. So, they’ll just rent out to whoever will take it and it’s not fair. Sometimes stuff doesn’t work in the homes … plumbing or there are no stoves, no stove’s working, roaches, it’s just disgusting and it’s sad.” -Regina, SK
“[Housing is] a human right, not a commodity.” -Halifax, NS
| Measure | Indicator | Data Source |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone has a home | Proxy: Point in time homelessness counts; Recommendation: Percentage of people who are not experiencing homelessness of any kind, including hidden homelessness | Infrastructure Canada; Gap |
| Housing is stable and secure | Percentage of households who have been evicted from rental unit in the past 12 months | Canada Social Survey |
| Housing is safe and in good repair | Proportions of households in core housing need | Canada Quality of Life Framework, Statistics Canada, Canadian Housing Survey and Census of Population |
| Housing supply, including affordable housing and new housing being built, reflects needs and size of community | Housing supply gap estimate | Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation |
| Freedom from housing discrimination | Recommendation: Percentage of population who have not experienced housing discrimination or barriers of any kind | Gap |
| Being able to own a home someday | Recommendation: Percentage of population who feels confident that they will be able to own a home in their lifetime; Proxy: Home ownership rates by family income quintile | Gap; Statistics Canada, Survey of Financial Security |
| Everyone has access to affordable housing | Percentage of households paying 30% or more of average monthly household income on housing; Share of units affordable to renters with the lowest 20% of incomes; Percentage of households on a waiting list for social and affordable housing | Statistics Canada Census of Population Table 98-10-0255-01; Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Rental Market Survey; Statistics Canada Canadian Housing Survey, Table 46-10-0058-01 |
| Everyone has access to the housing programs and supports they need | Recommendation: Percentage of population who feel they have access to the housing programs and supports they need | Gap |
| Everyone has access to transitional and supportive housing when needed | Recommendation: Percentage of population who feel they have access to transitional and supportive housing that they need | Gap |
| Everyone has access to emergency shelters when needed | Recommendation: Number of shelter beds compared to number of people experiencing homelessness and their gender, family structure, and needs | Gap |
| Empty buildings are used for shelters and low-income housing | Recommendation: Percentage of empty buildings being turned into shelters and low-income housing | Gap |
| Rent is affordable | Unaffordable housing rates of recent and existing renters in Canada | Statistics Canada, Census of Population |
| Landlords are fair and accountable | Recommendation: Percentage of renters who receive fair and good quality treatment from their landlords | Gap |
| Being able to scale up or down with housing without financial repercussions | Recommendation: Percentage of people who feel confident in changing their housing situation to meet their changing needs, without financial repercussions (e.g., can seniors downsize, or can couples split up) | Gap |
Recommendation: existing indicator and data source partially fulfill the measure.
Gap: gap for data source where it does not exist.
Magenta: existing indicator in Canadian Indicator Framework