The proposals in Toronto’s draft budget to shut down three transitional shelters for 97 elderly and health-compromised homeless women and men will “save” city taxpayers less than $2 million, but will be costly to the health and lives of individuals who will lose access to a valuable service – and will also be costly to […]
A Housing Year In Review And A Walk Through The Numbers
As 2011 draws to a close, and 2012 beckons, a healthy and affordable home remains out of reach for millions of Canadians. Housing is about people – their lives, households, communities and health – and the year-end numbers tell a compelling story about housing in Canada in 2011. Housing costs outpace household incomes While the […]
Continue ReadingA Housing Year In Review And A Walk Through The Numbers
Practical solutions to ease health burden of bad housing
People who suffer from mental illness, poverty and precarious housing face a terrible burden of increased illness and early death. Forty Is Too Young to Die documents the health challenges and sets out four practical measures for health and housing authorities. The report has been prepared by Mainstay Housing, a Toronto non-profit agency that provides housing […]
Continue ReadingPractical solutions to ease health burden of bad housing
Feds, Ontario re-announce, yet again, 2008 housing funding
The Ontario and federal governments announced a combined investment of $481 million in affordable housing funding on November 8. This is not a new investment, but the re-announcement of funding that was first promised in September of 2008. Here are some background notes from the Wellesley Institute to help you understand the latest housing news. […]
Continue ReadingFeds, Ontario re-announce, yet again, 2008 housing funding
It takes a province to end homelessness: Presentation notes
Yesterday I delivered the keynote presentation to the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing and Homelessness Network conference at Port Blandford on Oct. 26. In my presentation, I warned that the ongoing erosion of federal housing investments will cut vital funding that local groups across Newfoundland and Labrador require to develop effective housing solutions. Working together so […]
Continue ReadingIt takes a province to end homelessness: Presentation notes
Sustainable, long-term federal housing investments required: WI 2012 pre-budget submission
A good home is vital to personal health and essential to improving the overall health of the entire population, as well as contributing to a strong and stable economy. Good housing is good for the economy, and it reduces government health and other spending. Despite all these benefits, federal housing investments have been eroding over […]
Ontario Sets 2012 Rent Increase Guideline at 3.1% – More Than 4 Times Higher Than Last Year's
The Ontario government has set the 2012 rent review guideline at 3.1% – more than four times higher than last year’s rent review guideline of 0.7% and the highest set by the Ontario government in a decade. Private landlords are allowed to increase rents (with 90 days notice) up to the guideline limit once every 12 […]
Gutting Toronto’s Affordable Housing Office undercuts ‘housing first’ approach to ending homelessness
While Toronto’s Core Services Review report recognizes the value to individuals and the City of Toronto in a housing-first approach to homelessness, that same review undercuts the ability of the City of Toronto to implement a housing-first approach by potentially gutting affordable housing initiatives and perhaps even shutting down the entire Affordable Housing Office.
Housing first to end homelessness, but first Toronto needs homes
A good and healthy home, with proper supports, is better than a bed in a homeless shelter. That’s the main observation in the City of Toronto’s Core Service Review of homeless and support services by KPMG consultants. The Wellesley Institute fully supports a measured process that allows people to move from homelessness to home, and […]
Continue ReadingHousing first to end homelessness, but first Toronto needs homes
Finally! Feds, provinces, territories announce new housing framework: Facts and figures
Three years after the federal government promised a five-year extension of key national housing investments, a new short-term housing framework agreement has been announced with the provinces and territories. There’s no new money in today’s announcement, and the new agreement mirrors the flawed 2001 federal / provincial / territorial affordable housing framework agreement. But the […]