Private markets no solution to public housing crisis

When governments stop funding public housing, low vacancy rates, ever-rising rents and growing numbers of homeless are the inevitable result.

New federal financing for social housing ended in 1993. The withdrawal of public support for social housing has had disastrous consequences. Between 1990 and 1995 the number of people paying more than 50 per cent of their incomes in rent rose by 43 per cent. This puts 833,555 Canadian households at risk of homelessness. The elimination of this valuable social program is a main reason for the shortage of affordable housing across Canada.

Lack of funds for social housing has worsened the crisis of homelessness. The mayors of the ten largest cities in Canada have declared homelessness a national disaster.

Internationally, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights has recommended Canada treat inadequate housing and homelessness as a national emergency and immediately reinstate federal social housing programs.

Deregulation of rents has only increased the crisis in affordable housing. For example, the Ontario government eliminated rent controls. This move coupled with no social housing programs has meant:

• one in four tenant households are at risk of homelessness.
• tenant incomes are falling even as rents rise faster than inflation in most parts on Ontario
• about 16,000 new rental units are needed annually but almost no new affordable rental housing is being built.

The private market does not create affordable housing. Government social housing programs are the only way to ensure that Canadians will have decent housing in decent surroundings at affordable prices — just as the Liberal Party Task Force on Housing recommended in 1990.

As part of a strategy to fight homelessness, community groups across the country are calling for the federal government to provide one per cent of its budget, about $2 billion over five years, to meet basic housing needs in Canada including capital funding for social housing. This would be a good first step to restore a social housing program for Canadians.