Backgrounders

An analysis of the housing and income figures released in May 2008, with a look at historical data and trends.

National Housing Report Card 2008 reveals that the federal government and eight of the thirteen provinces and territories have failed to meet the commitments for new housing funding that they made in November of 2001.

The intent was good, but the process was fatally flawed. City officials say that they want to get a better sense of the scope and scale of Toronto’s homeless population, but the recent homeless street count won’t provide any reliable data to make informed decisions. But there is a way to move forward, by building on four decades of solid research, analyzing current social and economic data and bringing together the government, community and private sectors in a comprehensive strategy to end homelessness in Toronto. Michael Shapcott has set out the option in a written submission to Toronto City Council’s Community Services Committee .

A look at Toronto's 2008 operating budget, its 10-year housing strategy, and the need to reverse urban development trends.

National Housing Day is November 22, 2007 – which marks the day in 1998 when the mayors of Canada’s biggest cities declared homelessness a “national disaster”. Nine years on, senior levels of government have failed to deliver on agreements and commitments for new housing spending, and few new affordable homes have been built in recent years.

Everyone in Canada has the right to a safe, secure, adequate and affordable home. The federal government is obliged in international law to ensure people have a home.

That, in short form, is the international right to adequate housing as set out in numerous treaties and other legal instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

Ontario’s affordable housing crisis remains deep and persistent. More than 600,000 households (that’s more than 1.5 million women, men and children) are in core housing need1, and many more are directly affected by a shortage of homes and high housing prices. The affordable housing crisis affects the personal health of individual Ontarians, it disrupts communities and it is a drag on the economic health of the province. The costs of the affordable housing crisis are high, much higher than the costs of the solutions. This primer from the Wellesley Institute looks at affordable housing issues since the last provincial election in the fall of 2003.

Increasingly high summer temperatures have an impact on the health of all, especially the poor and elderly. This Wellesely Institute backgrounder provides a three-point “Cool Toronto” plan to bring down the temperature in an over-heated city. 

This Wellesley Institute  backgrounder, by Michael Shapcott looks at the constitutional and legal issues regarding the federal role in housing in Canda. 

Toronto’s homeless street count and needs assessment has generated plenty of controversy. This Wellesley Institute backgrounder, prepared by Michael Shapcott, looks at the issues and concerns about counting the homeless.