Feds
confirm three-year homeless funding extension,
but freeze dollars at 1999 level
The
federal government has
officially confirmed $134.8m annual
funding for the national homelessness
program over the next three years. In
September of 2008, the feds promised to
extend the funding for five years, but
said they would review funding practices at
year two (fiscal 2010), so the decision
to honour the 2008 promise is good news.
Human Resources and Skills Development
Canada says that the funding envelope for
the 61 communities that receive most of the
federal homeless dollars ‘will remain the
same’ until fiscal 2014. By that year,
federal funding for homelessness, low-income
housing repair and the Affordable Housing
Initiative are planned to drop to zero, as
noted in the Wellesley Institute’s
Precarious Housing in Canada 2010.
With the federal government talking a hard
line on spending in recent months, there had
been fears that homeless investments might
be cut in full or in part. News that funding
will be maintained at the current level for
the next three years is very welcome, but
the overall funding envelope has remained
basically the same since the program was
launched in 1999 – even as the number of
communities has grown to 61.
There is no provision for the erosion in
value of the dollars due to an inflation
rate of 25% since 1999. There has been no
adjustment over the years for increased
needs as homelessness has grown more severe.
A key component of the federal Homelessness
Partnering Strategy (HPS) – called the
Supporting Community Partnerships Initiative
(SCPI) under the previous government – is
that it is based on local homelessness plans
developed by community-based groups (or, in
the case of Toronto, by municipal officials
in consultation with a community reference
group). In making the funding announcement,
the federal government acknowledged the
’successful partnerships’ that have been
created through HPS-SCPI are a key strength
of the national program.
The federal government has promised ’program
enhancements’, but hasn’t provided more
details. These include:
-
greater support for rural and remote
communities;
-
ensuring culturally relevant programming
and services for Aboriginal people who
are homeless or at risk of homelessness;
-
developing linkages on mental health and
homelessness;
-
increasing the relevance and
dissemination of research;
-
reinforcing accountability for results;
and
-
improving data sharing and collection.
***
- Michael
September
14, 2010 -
Chamber
of Commerce resolution calls for national plan
to end homelessness
“Homelessness is bad for business and the
federal government does not have a national
plan to end homelessness in Canada.” Those
are the opening words in powerful resolution
from the Burnaby Board of Trade, the Greater
Victoria Chamber of Commerce and the Surrey
Board of Trade that will be debated by
delegates to the Canadian Chamber of
Commerce later this month. The resolution
(starting on page 74 of the
Chamber’s resolution book) has been
backed by the Special Issues Committee of
the Chamber. The Wellesley Institute’s
Precarious Housing in Canada 2010
identifies people who are homeless as key
priorities for a new national housing plan.
The Chamber of Commerce is the national body
that represents more than 300 local boards
of trade and chambers of commerce which, in
turn, represent more than 175,000 local
businesses. An increasing number of local
business groups are insisting that there is
a business interest in good social policy.
“Homelessness has a direct financial impact
on businesses as it deters customers,
damages employee recruitment and retention,
harms tourism and discourages companies from
setting up offices in areas with a visible
homeless population,” according to the
Burnaby resolution. “For many municipalities
and business communities in Canada,
homelessness is a real problem that requires
expenditures on security upgrades to
maintain the safety of staff and property.
Businesses cannot realize their full
potential while homelessness exists in their
areas, due to reduced revenues through lost
sales.”
“A national plan to end homelessness will
clearly set the goals, objectives, metrics
and outcomes for all homelessness
initiatives and will provide the proper
mechanisms to more effectively address the
issue. Without a clear strategy to direct
national efforts to end homelessness,
businesses will continue to be negatively
impacted by the growing crisis,” says the
Burnby resolution.
“Since the federal government needs to
contain spending on programs, and because it
would not be socially and economically
prudent to cut funding for homelessness
initiatives, a viable course of action would
be to reallocate funds from the federal
budget to develop a national plan to end
homelessness,” urges the Burnaby BOT.
In its report, the WI notes that federal
expenditures on homelessness and affordable
housing have failed to keep pace with
inflation and the growth in population from
1989 to 2009; and that the federal
government is “stepping out” of its housing
and homelessness investments. By 2013,
federal housing program spending will drop
by 18% to $1.9 billion, the federal
Affordable Housing Initiative will drop to
just $1 million for the entire country and
funding will be cut to zero for the federal
homelessness strategy and the federal
housing rehabilitation program.
The WI report notes that maintaining
spending at the 2009 level and targeting the
investments would fund a 10-year national
housing and homelessness plan.
- Michael
August 26, 2010 -
Precarious Housing in Canada (2010) is a
powerful, new research and policy report from
the Wellesley Institute.
Using the most comprehensive
and current data, research and analysis,
Precarious Housing sets out a pragmatic,
five-point plan targeted to the millions of
Canadians who are living in substandard,
over-crowded and unaffordable homes – plus those
who are living without any housing at all.
Housing is one of the most
important factors for a healthy life. A good
home is important for individuals and for
overall population health. The growing number of
Canadians who are precariously housed continues
to be a deep and persistent problem throughout
the country; the nation-wide affordable housing
crisis is costly to individuals, communities,
the economy, and the government. Federal housing
and homelessness investments – adjusted for
inflation and population growth – have been
shrinking over the past two decades; and, while
the federal government announces short-term
initiatives from time to time, Canada still
doesn’t have a comprehensive, fully-funded and
integrated national housing strategy.
Download the full Precarious
Housing in Canada report.
Download the
Executive Summary.
Download
Part One: Framing the challenge .
Download
Part Two: Vision 2020, toward a national housing
plan.
- Michael
June
15, 2010 - Latest CMHC figures confirm
low, moderate-income households continue to be
priced out of Canada's private rental markets
Low and moderate-income households continue
to be priced out of Canada’s private rental
markets as average rents continue their
relentless two-decade rise many times faster
than renter household incomes, according to the
latest figures released today by Canada Mortgage
and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Canada’s
national housing agency. Research from the
Wellesley Institute and others draws a clear set
of links between good quality, affordable
housing and good health.
Private rental vacancy rates (the
number of vacant rental units) have risen
slightly in Canada, and rents have increased at
the same time – defying conventional economic
theory that says that increased supply should
lead to lower costs in the private rental
housing market. The latest
private rental market survey from CMHC
paints a mixed picture of the country’s private
rental markets, which provide a home to 3.8
million of Canada’s 12.4 million households.
Nationally, the rental vacancy
rate in Canada’s largest communities (where most
of the rental housing is located) is at 2.9% –
below the 3% level that is considered the
minimum for a healthy private rental market. The
national rental vacancy rate edged up
fractionally over the past year, but it has
remained below 3% since 1999.
While conventional economic
theory suggests that an increase in the rental
vacancy rate – which signals more vacant units
in the private rental markets – should trigger a
drop in rents as landlords compete for tenants,
the latest CMHC report shows that rents grew by
1.8% in the past year.
Nationally,
rents have increased every year since 1992 –
an increase of almost 42% over 18 years. CMHC
reports that over a similar period (from 1990 to
2007), renter median household incomes have been
mostly stagnant – moving from $30,800 in 1990 to
$31,500 in 2007.
Rapidly rising rents set against
mostly stagnant renter household incomes help to
explain why there has been a slight increase in
the number of vacant private rental units while,
at the same time, waiting lists for affordable
housing across the country continue to report a
strong and growing need for new affordable
homes.
The
Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association
reported in May that there are an additional
12,382 households on local waiting lists across
the province for a total of 141,635 households –
an increase of 9.6% in one-year. The latest CMHC
numbers report an increase in Ontario’s private
rental vacancy rate from 3.3% to 3.4%. So,
vacancies are up slightly in the province’s
private rental markets at the same time that
waiting lists have zoomed up much higher.
The CMHC reports that private
market rents rose by 3% over the past year to an
average of $978, suggesting that private rental
markets are increasingly out of reach for low
and moderate-income renter households.
Across the country, the CMHC
reports a mixed picture. Vacancy rates dropped
by almost half in Newfoundland and Labrador to a
critically low 1.1%; and also fell in Prince
Edward Island and Nova Scotia. The rental rate
remained the same in New Brunswick and increased
slightly in Quebec and Manitoba. The rental
vacancy rate rose more significantly in Canada’s
three western-most provinces of Saskatchewan,
Alberta and British Columbia.
Alberta and BC defied the
national trend and reported decreases in average
market rents, although Alberta leads the league
in the highest rents at a provincial level
($1,023).
Nineteen of Canada’s major
metropolitan areas had rental vacancy rates in
the crisis zone below 3%, while 17
municipalities reported rates above 3%. Winnipeg
has the lowest rental vacancy rate at 1%, while
St John’s NL is close behind at 1.1%. Windsor
has the highest rate at 12.4%.
Vancouver reported the highest
average market rents at $1,150, and Toronto was
close behind at $1,134. Ottawa and Calgary also
had rents above $1,000, while Victoria,
Saskatoon and Oshawa all reported average rents
in the $900+ range. Saguenay reported the lowest
average rent at $522.
Comparing year-over-year
increases, Regina topped the national league
tables with an annual rent increase of a
whopping 7.1%, followed by a 5.3% increase in
Saskatoon. St John’s NL reported an annual
increase of 5%, with Victoria reporting a 4.9%
rise and Winnipeg up 4.6%. Calgary and Edmonton
both reported decreases in average market rents
(6.4% and 2.9% respectively), although average
rents in those cities remain very high relative
to renter household incomes.
- Michael
Jan 19
- WI backgrounder: Respect housing / human
rights warns OMB as it strikes down restrictive
Kitchener planning rules
Equity and human rights are critical
components of land use planning, according
to a
precedent-setting decision by the
Ontario Municipal Board in January of
2010 that struck down restrictive Kitchener
by-laws. Municipalities are legally bound by
the
Ontario Human Rights Code and the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
when they make planning and zoning
decisions, ruled the board. The Ontario
Human Rights Commission, which intervened in
the Kitchener case, has noted that “adequate
and affordable housing is a human rights
issue” and has warned in
recent reports that discriminatory
municipal planning rules can violate the
provincial human rights code.
Housing advocates have long argued that
municipal restrictions that limit, or ban
entirely, certain types of housing and
services from certain neighbourhoods can
amount to unfair discrimination and a
violation of human rights laws. With its
recent decision, the Ontario Municipal Board
has ruled for the first time that
municipalities must carefully consider their
housing and human rights obligations before
passing planning and zoning bylaws. In its
ruling, the OMB (which is a provincial legal
tribunal that hears planning appeals) has
ordered the City of Kitchener to go back to
the drawing board with its planning and
zoning rules that sought to limit the
‘concentration’ of social and supportive
housing and services for people who are
homeless, or people with physical or mental
health disabilities in the Cedar Hill
neighbourhood of that city.
The decision itself is complex, and runs for
49 pages. The OMB, through its legal
decisions, sets the basic rules that guide
municipalities in their planning and zoning
practices. In the Kitchener decision, the
board says that “decentralizing institutions
and fostering a neighbourhood mix” are
legitimate planning goals. But it warns that
before municipalities adopt restrictive
measures, they have to consider the equity
and rights obligations imposed by the
Ontario Human Rights Code and the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- Michael
Jan 15
- WI webinar with Senator Art Eggleton on
housing, homelessness, poverty
Please mark your calendar and plan to
participate in the Wellesley Institute
webinar with Senator Art Eggleton on January
15 at 11 am. Click
here for more information and free
registration.
-
Far too many Canadians in cities live
below any measure of the poverty line
-
Too many people struggle to find and
maintain affordable housing
-
An increasing number of Canadians are
homeless
“Despite the thoughtful
efforts and many promising practices of
…[many], the system that is intended to lift
people out of poverty is substantially
broken, often entraps people in poverty, and
needs an overhaul.”
Join Senator Art Eggleton as
he discusses
In from the Margins: A Call to Action on
Poverty, Housing and Homelessness, a new
report from the Standing Senate Committee on
Social Affairs, Science and Technology:
Subcommittee on Cities that offers 72
practical recommendations to “go beyond the
‘path dependency’ paralysis that has
typified federal and provincial policy under
governments of all affiliations for
decades.”
This event is
free.
To participate, all you need is a phone and
an internet connection.
-
Michael
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