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On August 5th, the government of Canada announced a partnership with the City of Toronto to unlock 18 housing projects that will deliver more than 5,600 rental homes across Toronto, including a subset that will be affordable, supportive, or rent-geared-to-income units.  

Build Canada Homes (BCH) will provide $310 million for 1,885 rental units on City-owned land, with 739 of those units defined as ‘affordable’ under BCH rules. These developments will be carried out by supportive housing operators, Toronto Community Housing, Indigenous-led housing providers, and the Parkdale Neighbourhood Community Land Trust. More than half of the units announced will be managed by private developers provided with low-cost federal loans through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)’s Apartment Construction Loan Program. 

The funding for non-market housing is welcome, as is the approach to working directly with local governments to use government-owned land, but much more must be done to address Toronto’s housing crisis.  

About half of Toronto’s 1.16 million households are renters. Twenty-nine per cent of them live in core housing need, meaning they live in housing that is unaffordable, overcrowded, or in need of major repair – and they cannot find suitable housing that is less than thirty per cent of their income. The number of unhoused Torontonians has dramatically increased in recent years; the 2025 Street Needs Assessment found over 12,000 people living without a home. The loss of lower-rent housing has been directly linked to increases in homelessness in communities across Canada.  

To advance the right to housing, new government housing investments need to meet the needs of those most deeply impacted by housing insecurity and homelessness. Rents need to be deeply affordable in perpetuity, supports need to be adequately resourced and respond to the diversity of peoples’ needs, and there needs to be clear targets and minimum standards to provide fully accessible homes that meet the needs of disabled people with diverse accessibility needs. 

Many of the proposed units have time-limited affordability requirements, and many of the ‘affordable’ rents are still out of reach for Torontonians living on low or very-low incomes, who can afford a maximum rent of no more than $425-$1,063.   While the guidelines mandate all housing developments to be at least visitable with barrier-free common areas, it is unclear if projects funded under this partnership contain mandatory accessibility requirements, or if developers can simply opt out of accessibility guidelines under the ACLP.   

Build Canada Homes 

In 2025, CCHR participated in a major pan-Canadian consultation around the development of the new federal agency BCH. This involved submitting recommendations for the protection, promotion, and fulfillment of the right to adequate housing, as required by the Government’s obligations under international and Canadian law, specifically the 2019 National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA).  

CCHR’s recommendations focused on three key areas: 

  • Prioritize and maximize investments in the community housing sector 
  • Uphold all elements of the right to adequate housing 
  • Commit to robust monitoring and accountability mechanisms 

NHS 2.0  

The announcement of greater non-market housing investments by the federal government, in collaboration with other levels of government, is timely given that it arrives during ongoing consultations with housing stakeholders, civil society and rights-holders on the renewal of the National Housing Strategy (NHS) in 2027.   

CCHR remains steadfast in its call for the federal government, in partnership with other levels of government and civil society, to integrate a human rights-based approach into the renewed NHS and BCH operations. Human rights standards and principles must also be embedded across all housing laws, policies and programs, particularly those related to affordability, security of tenure, accessibility and non-discrimination. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
Canadian Centre for Housing Rights welcomes new Executive Director   

TORONTO, ON (July 14, 2026) – The Board of Directors of the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) is pleased to announce the appointment of Jordan Gray as the organization’s new Executive Director. Jordan will officially join CCHR on July 27, 2026.   

Jordan brings 15 years of community‑based advocacy, policy development, and strategic leadership, shaped by work at every level of government in Canada as well as meaningful leadership roles across the nonprofit and charitable sector. Over the past decade, he has built a progressive leadership career in housing and Indigenous relations within the federal government. 

Jordan joins CCHR from Indigenous Services Canada, where he led national operations for the First Nations On‑Reserve Housing Program. He also oversaw government backed securities and advanced blended financing solutions to build, renovate, and purchase social housing across more than 600 First Nations communities. His leadership modernized funding systems, strengthened accountability, and advanced approaches grounded in Indigenous self determination and measurable, rights based outcomes. He has previously held leadership roles with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and Global Affairs Canada.

In addition to his government experience, Jordan is also a demonstrated not-for-profit leader and champion for the charitable sector. He serves on the Boards of Imagine Canada and Indigenous Youth Roots, where he has helped strengthen governance and organizational stability. Across his career, Jordan has built deep experience in intergovernmental collaboration, working with municipal, provincial, federal, and Indigenous governments to advance rights‑based housing outcomes and strengthen community‑focused systems. 

“On behalf of the Board, we are pleased to welcome Jordan Gray as CCHR’s next Executive Director. Jordan brings strong public policy experience, deep knowledge of housing systems, and a clear commitment to advancing the right to housing. We are confident that he will bring thoughtful, steady, and ambitious leadership to CCHR as the organization continues its important work across Canada.”

Jack De Klerk and Scott Stirrett, Co-chairs, CCHR Board of Directors

As Canada’s leading organization advancing the right to housing, CCHR continues to work alongside renters, communities, governments, and partners to promote housing as a human right through education, advocacy, legal services, and policy reform.  

“For nearly 40 years, the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights has advanced the right to safe, affordable, and accessible housing. I have long admired this front‑line organization’s unwavering commitment to protecting and advancing the equality of equity‑deserving groups, including women, newcomers, seniors, Indigenous communities, and youth. I am honoured to join CCHR and work alongside its dedicated staff, Board, partners, and supporters. Together, we will continue to confront Canada’s national housing crisis leveraging rights-based advocacy to advance housing justice for all.”  

Jordan Gray, Executive Director, CCHR 

Under Jordan’s leadership, the organization looks forward to building on this work and advancing its strategic priorities.   

The Board would also like to extend its sincere thanks to Mathieu Pierre Dagonas, who has served as Acting Executive Director during this leadership transition. His steady leadership, commitment to the organization, and support for staff have helped ensure continuity while the Board conducted its search for a permanent Executive Director.  

“We are deeply grateful to Mathieu Pierre Dagonas for his leadership as Acting Executive Director over the past year. During a period of transition, Mat provided stability, focus, and care for the organization, its staff, and the communities CCHR serves. His commitment has strengthened CCHR and positioned the organization well for its next chapter.” 

Jack De Klerk and Scott Stirrett, Co-chairs, CCHR Board of Directors

The Board looks forward to welcoming Jordan on July 27 and working together to advance the right to housing for everyone in Canada.   

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About the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights   

The Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) is Canada’s leading organization advancing the right to housing. Through education, legal services, policy advocacy, research, and strategic partnerships, CCHR works to ensure that everyone can access safe, adequate, and affordable housing without discrimination. By working alongside renters, communities, governments, housing providers, and service organizations across Canada, CCHR helps build a housing system that upholds housing as a human right.   

For more information

Sharon Ferdinands   
Communications Specialist   
Canadian Centre for Housing Rights   

Email: media@housingrightscanada.com     

Evictions can push people into housing instability, homelessness and poverty. Yet across Canada, eviction is often treated as an inevitable outcome rather than a last resort.

A new publication by Balanced Supply of Housing, Evictions in Canada: The Impact of Evictions on Security of Tenure and the Right to Housing, brings together researchers from across the country to examine the growing impact of evictions on renters and communities.

The collection explores:

  • The relationship between evictions and the right to housing
  • The lived experiences of people facing eviction
  • Eviction decision-making and tenant protections
  • Above-guideline rent increases and financialization
  • Eviction trends in the Greater Toronto Area and Metro Vancouver
  • Policy recommendations to strengthen security of tenure across Canada

Among the contributors is CCHR’s Director of Policy, Research & Law Reform, Margaret Flynn, who co-authored Chapter 3 with Sarah Buhler: Evictions as a First Resort? Proportionality and Discretion in Saskatchewan Eviction Decisions.

The chapter examines 1,906 Saskatchewan eviction cases involving rental arrears and found that eviction was ordered in 99.27% of cases. The research raises important questions about whether existing legal protections are being meaningfully applied and whether sufficient consideration is being given to alternatives that could help renters remain housed.

At a time when governments across Canada are grappling with housing affordability and rising homelessness, this publication offers important evidence on the role eviction plays in housing instability and what can be done to better protect renters.

Joint statement demands accountability, federal infrastructure, and binding commitments to make human rights real for everyone in Canada.

Regina (May 21, 2026) — As federal, provincial, and territorial representatives gather at the Forum of Ministers on Human Rights this week, the newly-formed Civil Society Forum for Human Rights in Canada is calling on governments to take immediate and concrete action on human rights implementation.  

The Civil Society Forum delivered their statement to the Honourable Minister Marc Miller, responsible for human rights implementation at the federal level, the Honourable Minister Rebecca Alty, and the Honourable Rob Oliphant, along with Attorneys Generals from several provinces and territories — stressing the statement’s importance as a guidepost for human rights implementation at all levels of government.

“The timing of this Ministers’ Forum is critical. People across Canada are facing violence, discrimination, homelessness, environmental harm, and persistent inequality,” says Zoë Craig-Sparrow, Vice-President of Justice for Girls. “Canada participates in international review processes and receives recommendations, but domestically there is no implementation framework and no clear accountability mechanism. For Indigenous, racialized, migrant, low-income, women and gender-diverse persons, and disabled communities, these failures have life-and-death consequences.”

“Human rights cannot remain as simply words on paper. We need to close the gap between promises and action,” says Michèle Biss, Executive Director at the National Right to Housing Network. “When human rights go unimplemented, it shapes everything — people are excluded from decisions that affect them, and governments use narrow interpretations of their obligations in court to avoid accountability under the Charter. Governments at every level must step up to protect and save lives.”

Six Demands for Immediate Action

The Civil Society Forum is calling on governments to act on six priorities:

  1. Transparent and accountable Ministers’ Forum — Establish a public mandate, clear decision-making processes, and a follow-up mechanism to track implementation commitments.
  2. A legislated national human rights implementation framework — Develop a legal framework, with civil society input, to translate Canada’s domestic and international human rights obligations into lived reality no later than December 2027.
  3. A federal Department of Human Rights — Create a dedicated central body, working in coordination with the Departments of Intergovernmental Affairs and Justice, to champion human rights implementation and ensure cohesion across all levels of government.
  4. Economic, social, and cultural rights as binding legal obligations — Affirm these rights are justiciable and align legislation, budgeting, and policy accordingly — including ratification of the American Convention on Human Rights and the Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ahead of Canada’s UN review in early 2027.
  5. A formal role for municipalities — Formalize local governments’ participation in human rights forums and implementation processes, given their frontline role in delivering programs that engage these rights.
  6. Stable, ongoing funding for civil society engagement — Establish a civil society engagement fund, with contributions from each Forum member, to support treaty reporting, monitoring, and implementation work.

“As governments around the world openly challenge human rights, Canada has both the opportunity and the responsibility to demonstrate a different and more productive path forward, both in its interactions with other nations and through meaningful implementation at home,” says DJ Larkin, Executive Director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.

 “We are united in our shared belief that all human rights are indivisible, interdependent, and interrelated,” says Meghan Doherty, Director of Global Policy and Advocacy at Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights. “And that systemic changes to Canada’s human rights infrastructure are necessary for the realization of any and all of our human rights.”

____________

About the Civil Society Forum for Human Rights in Canada

The Civil Society Forum for Human Rights in Canada is a group of civil society organizations, advocates, and academics united around a shared vision: a Canada where human rights are not merely aspirational, but legally binding, fully funded, and felt in the daily lives of every person in this country.

Signatories

  • Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights
  • Alex Neve, Professor of International Human Rights Law, University of Ottawa
  • Amnesty International Canadian Section (English-speaking)
  • Atlantic Human Rights Centre, St Thomas University
  • Canadian Centre for Housing Rights
  • Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children
  • Canadian Drug Policy Coalition/Coalition canadienne des politiques sur les drogues
  • Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action
  • Charter Committee on Poverty Issues
  • Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change
  • Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa
  • John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights
  • Justice for Girls
  • Maytree
  • Mining Watch Canada
  • National Right to Housing Network
  • Righting Relations Canada
  • Sandra Wisner, Director, International Human Rights Program, The Henry N.R. Jackman
  • Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
  • Social Rights Advocacy Centre
  • South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
  • The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies
  • The Helix Foundation for Children and Youth

Backgrounder:

Despite being a signatory to numerous international human rights treaties, Canada has no formal infrastructure to implement recommendations from United Nations human rights bodies. This means that when the UN identifies gaps in Canada’s human rights record — on housing, health care, Indigenous rights, and more — there is no legal obligation, dedicated institution, or funded mechanism to act on them. The result is a persistent gap between the rights Canada promises and the reality people experience.

For more information, please contact:

Jessica Tan
Communications Lead
National Right to Housing Network

Email: jessica@housingrights.ca
Phone: 613-621-4575



November 22, 2025, marks the 25th anniversary of National Housing Day. Just as Labour Day is an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the labour movement and continue fighting for workers’ rights, National Housing Day is a day to recognize housing as a fundamental human right and take action to ensure everyone has a safe, secure, and affordable place to call home.

Over the past year, we have seen some important progress on the right to housing across the country, alongside some deeply concerning backsliding. Below, we highlight key right to housing wins, misses, and opportunities ahead. You can also find information about National Housing Day events in your region to join the movement to continue pushing for concrete action to end housing need and homelessness.

Right to housing wins 

  • On October 1, 2025, the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) passed a motion calling on the provincial government to formally legislate housing as a human right. This would help ensure the province has a clear, legal, rights-based framework to address its growing housing and homelessness crisis, following the federal government’s commitment to advance the right to housing in the 2019 National Housing Strategy Act. The UBCM motion followed nine successful municipal motions in spring 2025, and a similar resolution was passed by the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs Council in 2024.
  • On October 28, 2025, the Northwest Territories’ Standing Committee on Social Development released recommendations to the territory on implementing the right to housing through its laws and policies. The recommendations include establishing a Territorial Housing Advocate, amending the Residential Tenancies Act, ensuring evictions are treated as a last resort, increasing supportive and transitional housing options, improving access to legal aid for renters, and incentivizing affordable housing development, among others. See CCHR’s deputation to support the implementation of housing as a human right in the Northwest Territories.

Across the country, a few provincial and territorial governments took some promising steps to expand rent regulation, while ongoing opportunities remain to close loopholes and ensure renters have secure, affordable homes for the long term:

  • On February 1, 2025, New Brunswick introduced a new rent increase guideline, limiting rent increases to three per cent (with exceptions of up to nine per cent for major renovations). See CCHR’s recommendations and commentary on additional opportunities to improve renter protections in New Brunswick.
  • On April 30, 2025, Nova Scotia extended its temporary rent cap until December 31, 2027, limiting rent increases to five per cent. Meanwhile, advocates in Nova Scotia continue to call for stronger rent regulation in the province, including prohibiting the use of fixed-term leases.
  • On September 1, 2025, Yukon introduced a new rent increase guideline, tying rent increases to the consumer price index (with exceptions of up to three per cent above the guideline for up to three years for major renovations). Along with the guideline, Yukon introduced a new Residential Tenancies Act, which limits some no-fault evictions, prohibits the use of artificial intelligence to set rents, and clarifies the role of the Residential Tenancy Office. See CCHR’s recommendations to improve renter protections in Yukon.

In other jurisdictions, opposition parties are planning or introduced private members’ bills calling for stronger rent regulation, where rent regulation is weak and/or contains loopholes – for example, in Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec – or where rent regulation does not exist at all – for example, in Saskatchewan. See CCHR’s commentary on the importance of strong rent regulation to protect renters in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and across the country.

  • On January 14, 2025, Manitoba introduced a new plan to end chronic homelessness and created a new premier’s senior advisor on ending chronic homelessness to oversee the work. The province will coordinate efforts among non-profit organizations, Indigenous nations, and municipalities to move encampment residents into permanent housing, including by investing in new social housing with wraparound supports.
  • On September 16, 2025, New Brunswick launched a ministerial task force on homelessness, which aims to coordinate efforts to address homelessness across relevant provincial departments. The task force will focus initially on developing a provincial homelessness strategy and establishing a community advisory council. It will provide regular reports to cabinet, quarterly public updates on chronic homelessness, and an annual public report.
  • On September 14, 2025, the federal government launched Build Canada Homes, a new agency responsible for affordable housing development across the country. See CCHR’s submission and analysis, where we highlight how Build Canada Homes marks an important shift in the federal government’s approach to affordable housing development by focusing on growing the supply of community housing. However, we also urge the government to ensure Build Canada Homes prioritizes those in greatest housing need by setting clear human rights-based targets, timelines, monitoring, and reporting mechanisms to end homelessness and housing need as quickly as possible.
  • On October 22, 2025, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. launched the Igluvut Corporation, a new Inuit-led non-profit housing corporation responsible for delivering and managing affordable housing in the territory. The Igluvut Corporation will administer $135 million of funding through the Inuit Housing Fund, with initial plans to build up to 160 affordable units over five years, alongside supportive housing, seniors housing, and shelters.

In addition to launching its new homelessness strategy, Manitoba also took important steps to protect some of its community housing stock and require landlords to cover costs for renters forced to leave their homes due to health or safety issues. See CCHR’s deputation to the Manitoba Standing Committee on Legislative Affairs on the importance of ensuring landlords fulfill their obligations to provide safe and habitable homes for renters.

Right to housing misses

  • On October 23, 2025, Ontario introduced a law that would accelerate evictions and reduce access to justice for renters. Following widespread advocacy, the government walked back initial plans to consult on introducing fixed term leases, which would have effectively eliminated rent control in the province. Nevertheless, the legislation still severely weakens security of tenure for renters and heavily favours landlords. See CCHR’s joint analysis and commentary, where we highlight how weakening renter protections will exacerbate the housing and homelessness crisis. CCHR also joined over 130 organizations calling for the province to repeal the law and for municipalities to advocate against it.

Across the country, some jurisdictions either reduced or failed to ensure equitable access to community housing for those in greatest need:

  • On May 15, 2025, Alberta introduced regulations to increase rents by 63 per cent for renters in community housing who receive provincial disability benefits. Advocates highlighted how this change will perpetuate poverty for people with disabilities and called for the policy to be reversed.
  • On June 30, 2025, British Columbia announced that it was considering removing supportive housing from the Residential Tenancy Act. The province established a working group composed of supportive housing providers, law enforcement, union representatives, and government to consider the change. Meanwhile, advocates expressed concern that this would reduce protections and increase evictions of supportive housing renters.
  • On July 9, 2025, Saskatchewan’s Opposition NDP revealed that approximately 12.5 per cent of the province’s community housing units were vacant, while housing insecurity and homelessness grows across the province. The NDP called for improved community housing maintenance and coordinated planning to fill the vacancies and address the housing and homelessness crisis.
  • In March 2025, the Auditor General of Prince Edward Island released a report evaluating the province’s Affordable Housing Development Program. The audit found that the program failed to increase affordable housing for those in greatest need, building just over one-quarter of the units planned under the program. The audit recommended that the government establish clear performance measures, improve data collection, and conduct regular program evaluations.
  • In May 2025, the Auditor General of Canada released a report showing that the Nunavut Housing Corporation failed to maintain and provide equitable access to community housing. The audit recommended that the Nunavut Housing Corporation improve monitoring of its housing allocations, ensure units are well-maintained, and provide equitable access to units that meet the needs of seniors and people with disabilities.
  • In June 2025, the Auditor General of New Brunswick released a report evaluating the province’s housing strategy. The audit found that the New Brunswick Housing Corporation failed to provide timely maintenance and repairs, inspections, and adequate funding. The audit recommended that the New Brunswick Housing Corporation improve maintenance, inspections, and turnaround times for vacant units.
  • In addition to extending its rent cap in April 2025, Nova Scotia also introduced new provisions that allow landlords to issue an eviction notice if a rent payment is late by three days. Renters now have 10 days to pay the rent or dispute the eviction. Previously, landlords were required to wait 15 days to issue an eviction notice for non-payment of rent, and renters would have another 15 days to pay the rent or dispute the eviction. This change significantly reduces renters’ ability to maintain their housing and expedites the eviction process.
  • In April 2025, Quebec introduced a new formula to calculate rent increases. Following an earlier proposal that also included net income, operating expenses, and service in the calculations, the new formula is based on the consumer price index, municipal and school taxes, insurance costs, and capital expenditures. Renter advocates warned the change favours landlords, arguing rent hikes are now tied to inflation and renovation potential, while interest rates and renovation costs are too volatile and complex to ensure predictability for renters.

Looking ahead 

Following a year of both progress and backsliding on the right to housing across the country, we look forward to upcoming opportunities to centre housing as a human right in the national discourse and in law and policy at all levels of government, through ongoing research, policy advocacy, law reform, and community engagement and mobilization.

Later this year, Neha, the National Housing Council review panel on the right to housing for women, Two Spirit, Trans, and gender-diverse people, will release recommendations for the federal government to uphold this right, following engagement with people with lived experience, housing rights organizations, and experts on human rights, housing, and social inequality. See CCHR’s recommendations, where we outline the impact of intersectional factors on housing security, gendered experiences of homelessness, Canada’s duty and failure to uphold the right to housing for women and gender-diverse people, and key principles and actions to realize this right. 

On June 12, 2025, the Federal Housing Advocate called for the National Housing Council to launch its next review panel to examine the lack of accessible housing across Canada, in light of the disproportionate rates of housing need and homelessness among people with disabilities. CCHR looks forward to engaging in this review panel and helping advance the right to housing for people with disabilities, drawing on our ongoing policy and research work in this area. 

As we highlight in our analysis of the 2025 federal budget, attaching conditions for provinces and territories to access federal funding is critical to ensure an effective, coordinated approach to ending homelessness and housing need. The federal government exercised this power by using the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund as an incentive for provinces and territories to adopt elements of the Renters’ Bill of Rights. It also introduced a new Build Communities Strong Fund that has the potential to take a similar approach.

Building on our advocacy to date, we continue to call for the federal government to strengthen the Renters’ Bill of Rights and ensure that provinces and territories commit to implementing strong renter protections in order to access federal funding, including long-term affordability, security, and other critical protections for renters. At the same time, we look forward to ongoing work with provinces and territories to strengthen renter protections across the country – both in policy and in practice.

As noted above, CCHR was proud to join coalitions of advocates, researchers, and lived experts across various sectors – including housing, homelessness, health care, drug policy, disability justice, human rights, settlement, migrant justice, public transit, and more – to push back against harmful laws in Ontario. We are also active members of Right to Housing Toronto, Right to Housing Manitoba, National Right to Housing Network, and other community, legal, and research networks, where we work with partners across the country to advance the right to housing.

Looking ahead to 2026, we will continue building and engaging with coalitions to drive collective advocacy and action to end homelessness and housing need.

National Housing Day events

  • Virtual: on November 20, join the Rural Development Network for its event focused on innovative, affordable, and community-led housing solutions across both rural and non-rural contexts in Canada. 
  • Toronto, Ontario: on November 22, join tenants from across Ontario to march to Queens Park and rally against Bill 60, organized by York South-Weston Tenants, No Demovictions, ACORN Ontario, and the Encampment Justice Coalition. 
  • Halifax, Nova Scotia: on November 24, join Habitat for Humanity Nova Scotia as it convenes leaders, innovators, and decision-makers from across government, industry, and the non-profit sector to address the critical barriers to housing affordability and collaborate on actionable, scalable solutions that can shape the future of housing in Nova Scotia. 

Recommendations to Build and Protect Truly Affordable Housing  

To address the growing housing and homelessness crisis across Canada, the federal government is creating Build Canada Homes, a new housing agency responsible for building affordable housing and modernizing the construction industry. In August 2025, the government released a Market Sounding Guide to gather feedback from housing sector stakeholders on how Build Canada Homes should operate and support the development of affordable housing.  Below, we outline our key recommendations to ensure that Build Canada Homes can effectively tackle the housing and homelessness crisis by taking an evidence- and human rights-based approach. 

Prioritizing affordable housing  

We welcome Build Canada Homes’ focus on affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families, including partnerships with non-market community housing developers and providers such as Indigenous, non-profit, co-operative, and public housing. This is critical to ensure those most impacted by the housing and homelessness crisis have access to housing that meets their needs and that public funding is directed toward the public good.   

We strongly support the Market Sounding Guide’s principle that private investors do not disproportionately benefit from public investments. Over-reliance on the private sector has failed to produce housing that is affordable and accessible to those in greatest need. At the same time, fiscal and regulatory incentives have fueled the financialization of housing. Financialization refers to the treatment of housing as a commodity and investment vehicle to maximize profits rather than as a fundamental human right. Financialization has led to rising rents, poor maintenance and more evictions, disproportionately impacting low-income, racialized and other marginalized communities.  

In line with a human rights-based approach, it is also encouraging to see that Build Canada Homes aims to align funding with housing outcomes, including affordability. The National Housing Strategy Act formally established Canada’s commitment to progressively realize the right to housing. This includes setting clear targets, timelines, monitoring and reporting mechanisms to end homelessness and core housing need in the shortest time possible by committing the maximum of available resources and utilizing all appropriate means.  

Taking a rights-based approach 

In our recent submission to the Build Canada Homes consultation, we highlight three key areas that the federal government should prioritize to ensure Build Canada Homes meets the needs of those most impacted by the housing and homelessness crisis.  

1. Prioritize and maximize investments in the community housing sector by: 

  • Setting clear, ambitious targets for community housing investments. 
  • Prioritizing community housing providers and developers for access to financing and other tools to increase their capacity for large-scale affordable housing projects. 

2. Uphold all elements of the right to adequate housing by: 

  • Restricting access to federal funding to housing projects that commit to long-term affordability based on household incomes, not market forces. 
  • Maximizing funding to support new and existing rental buildings to meet high habitability and climate resilience standards, while upholding affordability and security of tenure
  • Embedding a “For Indigenous, By Indigenous” approach to ensure equitable access to financing and other tools for Indigenous-led housing projects. 
  • Setting clear, ambitious targets for federally funded housing projects that meet the needs of communities facing disproportionate rates of housing precarity and homelessness.  
  • Prioritizing housing developments near vital community services. 

3. Commit to robust monitoring and accountability mechanisms by: 

  • Setting clear targets, timelines, monitoring and reporting mechanisms to ensure Build Canada Homes is focused on ending homelessness and core housing need in the shortest time possible. 
  • Providing opportunities for meaningful engagement with people with lived experience of housing precarity and homelessness.  

Ongoing advocacy opportunities 

We continue to engage closely with federal contacts on our recommendations. Together with sector partners, we are urging the government to adopt evidence- and rights-based solutions to the housing and homelessness crisis through Build Canada Homes. The government has also committed to providing ongoing engagement opportunities, with a focus on Indigenous partners. 

We will monitor updates on the launch of Build Canada Homes over the coming weeks and months. We welcome individuals and organizations to reiterate and amplify our recommendations to ensure Build Canada Homes prioritizes the development and preservation of truly affordable housing through a human rights-based approach. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Toronto, ON – March 5, 2025 – A new report released today by the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) finds that racialized individuals, newcomers and people with children across Canada face heightened discrimination when searching to secure a rental home. It also finds that people with disabilities face high levels of discrimination while living in a rental home.  

The research study, conducted in partnership with Dr. Gordon Hodson at Brock University, is the first national study discrimination in rental housing ever published in Canada. It used an experimental design method to analyze the responses from landlords and property managers to individuals who had inquired about a vacant rental home. It also analyzed survey responses from renters about their experiences during their search for a rental home, and while living in one.  

The research team studied 57 communities across Canada. By analyzing 1,178 messages sent to landlords and property managers, and 586 survey responses from renters, the study found that, in comparison to white individuals, landlords responded less often to racialized individuals, and even less when racialized individuals had a child. Landlords asked these individuals more questions about their personal life – for example about their marital, family and citizenship status – and even more of these questions to newcomers. They also requested more proof of income and employment from racialized individuals and women as compared to white men. Landlords ultimately rejected more rental applications from racialized individuals, and the most from newcomers. 

“Marginalized groups continue to face concerning levels of discrimination in rental housing across Canada, and these problems may only be worsened by low vacancy rates and high income inequality,” says Megan Earle, Independent Researcher. 

“With these conditions, landlords are able to be very selective in who they’re renting to.” says Sophie O’Manique, Senior Researcher at the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights. “This research confirms widespread discrimination against some groups of would-be renters, which creates even steeper barriers for them to find a reasonable place to live.” 

The study also found that landlords very often required people with disabilities to follow different rules than other renters who did not have a disability. People with disabilities also reported experiencing very high rates of aggression and violations of their boundaries from landlords. 

“Even after finding a rental home, marginalized groups often face additional discrimination at the hands of their landlords during their tenancy,” says Earle. “Policy and advocacy efforts are needed to confront landlord discrimination on both fronts – during renters’ search for housing, and while they’re living in their home.” 

“For many, this is an impossible situation,” says O’Manique. “Governments need to act with urgency to ensure an adequate supply of affordable rental housing, and work to enforce existing human rights protections.” 


Media contact:
Shelley Buckingham
Director of Communications, Canadian Centre for Housing Rights
Email: media [at] housingrightscanada.com


Read the report

Across Canada, renters are increasingly struggling to find affordable housing and to remain in their homes. Eviction rates in Canada are shockingly high, with 7% of Canadian households reporting that they have been evicted at some point in their lives. Many people who are evicted from their homes may not find another place to live, and every year more than 235,000 people in Canada experience homelessness. This does not capture the experiences of hidden homelessness like individuals couch surfing or living in overcrowded conditions with their family and friends.  

The human right to housing is an important framework for opposing unnecessary evictions and preventing the growing experiences of homelessness. Under Canada’s National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Canada is obligated to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to housing. The obligation to respect the right to housing prohibits Canadian government bodies, such as residential tenancies tribunals in different provinces, from evicting households from their homes, except when an eviction is necessary as a last resort. 

Specifically, eviction is only permitted under international human rights law if all the following are true: 

  • The eviction must have a legitimate objective. 
  • Eviction must be necessary to achieve the objective, and there must be no reasonable alternative.  
  • The consequences of eviction must be proportionate to the objective.

This is because international law recognizes that, like other human rights, adequate housing is fundamental to human dignity. It can only be restricted in circumstances where the restriction is justified in a free and democratic society.   

Unfortunately, all too often Canadian tribunals order evictions in violation of these basic principles. For example: 

  • Households that owe rent can be evicted with no consideration of whether the eviction is necessary.  In many cases, households would have been able to repay their arrears on a repayment plan, if given the chance. 
  • Households can be evicted with no consideration of whether the eviction is proportionate.  Evictions can be ordered for minor and even trivial reasons, even where the impact on the household losing their home will be severe. 
  • In many provinces, households can be evicted simply because their lease is up, even if the eviction will serve no purpose whatsoever.

To further complicate the matter, Canada’s eviction laws vary wildly between provinces. Some provincial laws allow tribunal adjudicators to consider the circumstances and decide whether eviction would be fair, so that it would at least be possible for the tribunal to respect the right to housing. Other provincial laws give adjudicators no choice but to order evictions, making it impossible for them to respect the right to housing. These varying laws have created uneven protections for renters across the country, leaving many vulnerable to losing their homes without the chance to present their circumstances and the devastating impact that an eviction may have on their lives.  


How do we solve this issue?

To ensure that renters in Canada have a fair chance to live in their homes and contribute meaningfully to their communities and the economy, we need a shift in our approach to eviction. To meet Canada’s obligation to respect the right to housing, we recommend that each province and territory must: 

  • Amend its residential tenancies laws to provide that eviction can only be ordered if it serves a legitimate objective, is necessary to achieve that objective, and is proportionate to the objective. 
  • Train tribunal adjudicators to respect the right to housing in their decisions. 
  • Ensure that tenants have access to eviction alternatives, such as rent banks to help pay their rent rather than losing their home if they were unable to pay their rent in full. 
  • Ensure that tenants have full, fair access to legal advice and to tribunal proceedings so that tribunals have all the information before them to determine whether an eviction is truly necessary. 

Evictions can be devastating for those who experience them. In too many instances, evictions can lead to experiences of homelessness. It is our duty as a democratic society to protect everyone, irrespective of their income or circumstances, to live with dignity and in secure homes.  

This informational pamphlet details the responsibilities of federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments in Canada to work toward the progressive realization of the right to housing.


Highlights include:

  • How the right to housing applies to all governments in Canada.
  • Holding all governments accountable to their international human rights commitments.
  • Using the National Housing Strategy Act as a model for implementing the right to housing within provincial, territorial and municipal governments.
  • Using federal spending power to ensure national co-ordination and coherence to implement the right to housing.
  • Encouraging inter-governmental collaboration and co-operation and through UN human rights mechanisms.
  • Recommendations for all governments to uphold the right to housing

This pamphlet was produced by the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) and the National Right to Housing Network (NRHN).


This informational pamphlet outlines how governments can use the planning and development tools at their disposal to ensure that the right to adequate housing is realized. It also outlines key actions that governments should take to develop new approaches to planning and zoning to promote inclusive, vibrant communities that ensure adequate housing for all, and how individuals can engage in this process as well.



This pamphlet was produced by the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) and the National Right to Housing Network (NRHN).


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