In our recommendations to the province on the 2024 Ontario Budget, Wellesley Institute called for a focus on homelessness. We urged the province to: put in place a plan to end homelessness in 10 years, make sure their general housing targets will lead to affordability and to lifting Ontarians out of homelessness, invest in enough […]
Housing
Federal Budget 2024: Positive steps, but still no targets
This year’s proposed federal budget takes some important steps forward on issues that are crucial to population health and health equity. In particular, we acknowledge that the government proposes to increase its investments in affordable housing and ending homelessness and is introducing funding for the Canada Disability Benefit, which will provide assistance to low-income persons […]
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Toronto Housing Action Plan: Who will it be for?
Toronto has significant, and worsening, health inequities. Wellesley Institute research shows that social factors such as housing, income, education, and access to social supports, are vital for individual and community health as well as Canada’s economic growth. Eliminating inequities in the social determinants of health must be our priority. We can build a future in […]
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Housing and health: the two go together
Many factors contribute to keeping Canadians healthy. Just as crucial as access to healthcare, social supports and good working conditions, is housing. Currently, we are facing a housing crisis due to lack of affordability, disrepair, crowding, short supply, and the list goes on. If Canada is going to solve the housing problem, we need to […]
Healthy Affordable Housing: Solutions to the Private Rental Problem
Wellesley Institute was awarded funding by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Solution Lab Program to work collaboratively with building owners, tenants and stakeholders to improve healthy housing quality in the private rental problem. Beginning in 2019, Wellesley worked with SHS Consulting ,experts in housing development policy and research, to understand the current state of apartment […]
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Building Health: Canada’s opportunity to improve housing affordability
Decent, safe, and affordable housing is an absolute foundation for healthy lives. Research has shown the critical links between housing and health. Without appropriate and secure housing, our health suffers, our mental health deteriorates, we are more stressed. Without affordable housing we may need to skip on food or medications in order to pay the […]
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Crowded housing and COVID-19: Impacts and solutions
The evidence in Toronto is clear: overcrowded housing is associated with increased COVID-19 infection rate. When people have insufficient space to socially distance or self-isolate if they are sick, it makes people more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19. In the City of Toronto, overcrowded housing conditions have left 12 per cent of private households more vulnerable […]
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Healthy Rental Housing
The number of Ontario households with significant repair issues is growing and Wellesley Institute is concerned about the impact of housing disrepair on tenants’ health and well-being. The province can mitigate the increasing state of disrepair in private rental housing through a comprehensive policy approach that invests in repair and prevents further deterioration. By clarifying […]
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Winter in Toronto is not an emergency: why treat it like one?
Winter is finally here and city services and non-profit agencies prepare for an influx of people seeking shelter from harsh weather. Toronto’s Cold Weather Plan lays out a number of different options for ensuring that Toronto’s most vulnerable residents are protected from the health impacts of cold weather. These include the shelter system, which operates […]
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Ensuring healthy housing: is enforcement enough?
Leaky pipes, faulty wiring and cockroach infestations are a stark reality of day-to-day life for thousands of Toronto’s renters. Hazards like these lead to a range of negative health outcomes, including asthma, injuries and anxiety. For over a decade, housing advocates have sounded the alarm on the unhealthy and sometimes shocking conditions of many apartment buildings. […]
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