Bruce Porter, Executive Director of the Social Rights Advocacy Centre, works to improve the housing situation of people in Canada who live in poor conditions. Some of his work has focussed on housing rights and international law. This makes him an important resource in Canada, which recently passed the National Housing Strategy Act, but also in other countries that are bringing international law “home.”
The National Housing Strategy Act acknowledges International Covenants On Economic, Social and Cultural rights, and specifically the right to adequate housing. It creates the Office of the Federal Housing Advocate as a primary actor.
Although the Advocate has not been appointed1, the Office asked Porter for insights about what the new legislation will mean as it implements the right to adequate housing in Canada. Porter’s advice, in the form of a report, has recently been published on the web.
Tying national legislation to international laws and conventions is not new. Canada has enshrined civil and political rights in its constitution and other legislation. But there has been a great deal of resistance to adopting the International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Until the passage of the National Housing Strategy Act, the Canadian government has consistently held the view that economic, social and cultural rights are appropriately addressed through policy.
Porter contends that the Canadian government’s steadfast reliance on policy has been a significant block to reforming the structures and systems that contribute to homelessness and housing insecurity2.
The National Housing Strategy Act commits the government to progressively realizing the right to housing. It also creates the actors and the process to do this. People who experience adverse housing conditions, the Federal Housing Advocate, Parliament and the government are primary actors.
The Housing Advocate’s work is to listen to people with experience of adverse housing conditions. The Advocate is responsible for identifying the structures and systems that contribute those individual experiences. The Advocate is also responsible to report to Parliament and to the government, outlining how the current system contributes to individual circumstances of homelessness as well as sub-standard housing conditions.
The Advocate is also responsible to provide guidance about how the government can act to continue to meet its commitment to progressively realize the right to housing. Consistent with its legislative commitment, the government is expected to take steps that will change the individual outcomes. The Housing Advocate and the people with experience are resources to assist the government in deciding how to change the system.
Using a specific example that is already well documented, the Housing Advocate notifies the government and parliament that children who are wards of the crown are at risk of becoming homeless when they become adults and age out of care. The government is required to respond and to act to improve the outcomes for young people who age out of care.
Young people with experience of homelessness have identified that they reached out for help but were turned away because their circumstances didn’t meet program criteria (for example, they hadn’t been homeless long enough to qualify). To progressively realize the right to housing, eligibility requirements might be modified so that services can swing in to action when a person asks for help.
Altogether, this is quite a different process than going to a human rights tribunal or the courts. And because the National Housing Strategy Act makes a connection to International Law and Covenants, there are international resources to help evolve the process in Canada. The report linked below identifies relevant case law and international examples to guide the Advocate and the Government in this new legislative territory.
The report will be of interest to people who experience adverse housing conditions, people who want to make the right to adequate housing a reality and the people who are charged with making it happen. It will also be valuable to people who are working to translate international conventions on Economic, Social and Cultural rights to the national level. You can read the full report at the National Right To Housing Network: Implementing The Right To Housing In Canada: Expanding The National Housing Strategy
Footnotes
- Update to this post: the National Housing Advocate, Marie-Josée Houle, was appointed in February 2022.
- There is considerable evidence that government policies have allowed the number of people experiencing homelessness and housing instability in Canada to grow. Also, according to a recent opinion poll, a majority of Canadians feel government could be doing better on homelessness and housing affordability. See at Angus Reid: Spotlight on the Provinces: Concerns over health care, economy drive increasing dissatisfaction with governments
