New name, same goal: Introducing the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights

With great enthusiasm we are pleased to announce:

The Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA) will now be known as the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR).

Although our name has changed, our mission has not wavered. Since 1987, our organization has been working to transform lives by advancing the right to housing for all. Over the last 35 years, we have passionately advocated for the people and communities that we serve, guided by our vision of a world where everyone has an adequate, affordable and accessible place to call home. In recent years, we have expanded the work we do to advance systemic change through policy advocacy, research, education and training across Canada.

As we mark this 35-year milestone and look toward the future, we are taking the opportunity to embrace this moment by transitioning our organization’s name so that it better reflects who we are and what we do today. The need for adequate, accessible and affordable housing has never been greater in Canada, and we remain as dedicated as ever to advancing the right to housing of Canadians.

The Canadian Centre for Housing Rights will continue to advocate and work tirelessly for those in greatest housing need across Canada in collaboration with housing advocates, nonprofit organizations, and people with lived experience of housing precarity. As we enter this new era for our organization, we will strive to accomplish our goals in new and expanding ways while staying true to our vision and values. Although our name has changed, our mission will always be to advance the right to housing for all.

It is a privilege to continue serving communities across Canada as we go forward under a new name.

With appreciation,

Annie Hodgins, Executive Director, on behalf of the whole CCHR team.

In this new phase we will work to advance the right to housing across Canada in the following ways:

Empowering renters to claim their rights and stay housed.

Our tenant services team works to empower thousands of renters each year by providing services and resources to help stabilize housing and prevent evictions. We will continue to provide free, individualized services to renters who are facing eviction and other housing challenges, and our engagement with impacted individuals will continue to inform our advocacy efforts.

Engaging with communities and proposing realistic solutions.

Our policy advocacy team advances the development and implementation of rights-based housing policies at all levels of government across Canada. We collaborate with communities and key stakeholders to understand housing issues, and work with them to formulate policy solutions that advance protections for renters, increase and preserve affordable housing, promote livable homes and inclusive communities, and address systemic housing issues faced by equity-deserving populations.

Sharing knowledge and tools that transform lives.

Our education and capacity-building team empowers communities through delivering trainings for renters, service providers, community workers and housing providers on the right to housing, housing legislation, housing advocacy and eviction prevention. We also work to expand public awareness about the right to housing and tenants’ rights with timely guides, toolkits and other online resources.

Creating knowledge and informing evidence-based solutions.

Our research team is driving change through collecting data and creating new knowledge about under-studied housing issues across the country. Our original research initiatives inform our efforts to create meaningful policy solutions and galvanize public awareness of the right to housing.

Advancing housing rights legal frameworks.

Our law reform team helps to advance the right to housing both inside and outside the courtroom. Over our 35-year history, this work has led to several precedent-setting legal decisions that have advanced the right to housing for Canadians.