Bad housing leads to bad health, and good housing improves population health. Michael Shapcott’s presentation to the Ontario Municipal Social Services Association / Ontario Association of Hostels provincial forum on housing and homelessness in September of 2010 highlights current research on housing and health, and sets out some key research and policy gaps.
Housing
CBC Marketplace investigation probes many complaints against big private landlord
A good place to call home is one of the most fundamental determinants of health. Research from the Wellesley Institute and others draw strong links between poor housing and homelessness, and increased illness and early death. CBC Marketplace has investigated numerous complaints from tenants at one of Canada’s largest private landlords – and their powerful […]
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Precarious Housing In Canada Executive Summary
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 […]
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Toronto Suburban Rooming Houses: Just a Spin on a Downtown “Problem”?
Toronto’s Suburban Rooming Houses: Just a Spin on a Downtown “problem?” by Lisa Freeman, looks at the zoning by-laws for rooming houses in Toronto’s inner suburbs. Rooming houses are often seen as last-resort housing, a downtown issue, or a health and safety hazard. But rooming houses are a crucial component of private-market affordable housing stock […]
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Practical and pragmatic steps to reduce poverty, health inequalities and housing insecurity
Canada can take practical and pragmatic steps to avoid falling farther behind other countries when it comes to poverty, poor health and housing insecurity.
Failing The Homeless: Barriers In The Ontario Disability Support Program For Homeless People With Disabilities
Principal Organization: Street Health Community Nursing Foundation Principal Investigator: Laura Cowan The Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) is intended to assist low-income people with disabilities, but many disabled homeless people are unable to access this program. In an effort to address this problem, Street Health decided to conduct a research project to identify the barriers […]
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Killer heat is triggering premature deaths; Toronto can take action
The City of Toronto and its agencies, boards and commissions, have taken significant actions against the deadly heat this summer, but a number of these initiatives are threatened by the current round of proposed cuts being considered by Toronto City Council. Toronto, and much of Canada, is suffering through record-breaking heat and humidity. Extreme heat is […]
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Housing and homelessness: Presentation to Ryerson University students
The Wellesley Institute’s Director of Housing and Innovation delivered a presentation on housing and homelessness to George Brown College students on January 20, 2012. The presentation spanned a range of themes, from housing and homelessness in Toronto to national trends in inequality and their impact on housing, plus an historical survey of housing developments in […]
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A Guide to Developing an Inclusionary Housing Program
This guide identifies the main aspects of inclusionary housing that should be addressed in order to implement an effective program, and also the main principles and key practices that should be followed when addressing those aspects. It does not attempt to draft a model bylaw nor to set out specific regulations. In many cases, those […]
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International Housing/Homelessness Summit In Washington: Wellesley Institute Presentations
The Wellesley Institute’s Michael Shapcott was among two dozen housing / homelessness thought and practice leaders who gathered in Washington, DC, last week for an international summit. In addition to supplying a brief overview of Canada’s ‘non-system’ of homeless and housing programs at the national level, he delivered a short presentation to summit participants, then […]