Main navigation

Wellesley Institute

Wellesley Institute works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health.

header-right

Home Blog Archives for Housing

Housing

A Framework for Improving Household Indoor Air Quality and Reducing Childhood Asthma Inequities

Asthma is the most common childhood chronic disease, with approximately 13 percent of children in Ontario diagnosed with the condition. Childhood asthma is associated with higher rates of disability, school absences, and poor academic performance. The household environment is a key determinant of health for those living with asthma. This paper describes how current multi-trigger, multicomponent […]

Continue ReadingA Framework for Improving Household Indoor Air Quality and Reducing Childhood Asthma Inequities  Download PublicationA Framework for Improving Indoor Air Quality

Housing in Neighbourhood Strategies

Hands holding a model house made or cardboard

Housing-neighbourhood connections are weaker when it comes to programs and strategies in Toronto. Of course many municipal activities affect neighbourhoods, from recreation programs to roads to policing. In this think piece we want to consider the relationship between housing-related programs and explicit neighbourhood initiatives. For the most part, the priorities in housing programs aren’t framed […]

Continue ReadingHousing in Neighbourhood Strategies  Download PublicationHousing in Neighbourhood Strategies

What does the federal budget do for affordable housing in Ontario?

Apartment building

People who provide and advocate for affordable housing have been positive about the 2016 federal budget because it moves Canada in the right direction for the next two years. The budget boosts federal funding for new affordable housing to about $1.1 billion a year nationwide. If we bracket the large and much-needed amounts for First […]

Continue ReadingWhat does the federal budget do for affordable housing in Ontario?

3 Steps Closer to Equitable Housing in Ontario

Ontario took real steps this week toward helping all of Ontario’s people to be safely and adequately housed. In the revised Long Term Affordable Housing Strategy three changes stand out that will help improve housing conditions and therefore good health outcomes. There are many things LTAHS does not address, such as new affordable housing or […]

Continue Reading3 Steps Closer to Equitable Housing in Ontario

Making the Links between Asthma and Healthy Housing for Low-Income Children

Asthma is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality amongst children. Compared to all other age groups, Ontario’s children had the highest rates of asthma incidence in 2013. Particularly, low-income groups in Ontario have higher rates of asthma incidence and asthma-related hospitalization than those in middle- and high-income groups. With this evidence, it […]

Continue ReadingMaking the Links between Asthma and Healthy Housing for Low-Income Children

National Housing Week: Bold New Partnerships

This is National Housing Week, when advocates call for more action on affordable housing. Usually there is talk of partnerships as the way forward. Today we have an opportunity for a major renovation of Canadian housing policy, in a bold new social partnership, and a new partnership between levels of government. Too often, the talk […]

Continue ReadingNational Housing Week: Bold New Partnerships

Coming Together on Supported Housing for Mental Health and Addictions in Ontario

It is a time of opportunity for supportive housing in Ontario. Housing and homelessness are main pillars in the government’s poverty reduction strategy. This is crucial because housing is a large factor in the social determinants of health. Whether someone’s housing is affordable, in good repair, or has the right supports or not has a […]

Continue ReadingComing Together on Supported Housing for Mental Health and Addictions in Ontario  Download PublicationComing Together on Supported Housing in ON

Federal Election 2015 Health Equity Impact Assessment

Wellesley Institute teamed up with Saskatoon’s Upstream to see what the 2015 federal candidates had to say about health. The health equity impact assessment was applied to 4 subjects found in the candidates platforms: a national drug program; housing; employment and income; early childhood education and care. Last we ask, what aren’t the candidates talking […]

Continue ReadingFederal Election 2015 Health Equity Impact Assessment  Download PublicationFederal Election 2015 Health Equity Impact Assessment

Access to housing – HEIA in the Federal Election

apartment buildings

One and a half million Canadian households are precariously housed, and an estimated 235,000 Canadians experienced homelessness in 2014.1 One in eight Canadian households live in housing that is either unaffordable, in disrepair, or crowded. In large cities such as Toronto, and amongst particular populations such as Aboriginal peoples and recent immigrants, this ratio is […]

Continue ReadingAccess to housing – HEIA in the Federal Election

Long Term Affordable Housing Strategy Submission

Five years after the Ontario government adopted a Long Term Affordable Housing Strategy (LTAHS) it is preparing an updated version to set directions for the next several years. This document puts forward the key priorities that the Wellesley Institute believes should inform the Ontario government’s framework and actions in affordable housing. The planned 2015/16 update […]

Continue ReadingLong Term Affordable Housing Strategy Submission  Download PublicationLong Term Affordable Housing Strategy

Stay Informed

Sign up for our newsletter to receive regular updates on our work.

* indicates required.

Acknowledgement of Traditional Land

We would like to acknowledge this sacred land on which the Wellesley Institute operates. It has been a site of human activity for 15,000 years. This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.

Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community, on this territory.

Revised by the Elders Circle (Council of Aboriginal Initiatives) on November 6, 2014

In the spirit of equity and inclusion, if we can improve on this statement, please contact us. Thank you.