Report on the National Right to Housing Forum for Halton

by Rishia Burke

National Right to Housing Forum Report for Halton

Fueled by the housing crisis, several community partners gathered regularly for about five months to plan a housing forum for Halton. November 22, 2024, was selected as the date, so that the forum would mark National Right to Housing Day.

The goal was to pull back the curtain on the policies that have shaped this housing crisis and help to demystify how anyone in our Halton communities could be struggling with housing. The organizers also focused on developing a format that would lend itself to learning but also an opportunity to digest the information through conversation as well as facilitate ideas for action. Talking about the housing crisis can no longer be enough.

The forum had approximately 150 people in attendance. The participants were a rich mix of community residents housing providers social service agency representatives, municipal employees, and a few elected officials.

The events keynote speakers were Dr. James Dunn from McMaster University and the Canadian Centre for Housing Evidence and Daryl Kantor, the Director of Housing for Halton Region.

The presentations provided a significant amount of information on policies and data, describing how we have found ourselves in this housing crisis.

After the presentations and some excellent questions posed to Dr. Dunn, forum participants took several minutes to reflect on what was coming up for them and decide  the action conversations they wanted to connect with for the rest of the morning.

The five calls to action participants had to choose from included:

·       How are we going to pay for this? Financing affordable housing.

·       Looking at housing from a neighborhood lens

·       How to get 3 levels of government to work together

·       Re establishment of a housing coalition

·       Advocacy campaigns and tools

Dr. Dunn outlined the following three issues that we must address if we want to address the housing crisis.

1. Incomes are not keeping pace with escalating costs of rental and ownership housing. For those who receive income through Ontario Works, market rental costs are simply unobtainable.

2. Affordable rental housing is eroding faster than new affordable housing can be built. The private market is building a very modest number of rental units and Nation-wide, for every new unit built under the National Housing Strategy we lose 9 units that are under $750.

3. The current housing strategy (new build emphasis) won’t make a sizeable impact on affordability. As a result, housing prices / rents will continue to increase faster than incomes as the rapid population growth is projected to continue.

Some of the recommendations coming from the conversations on the calls to action included:

• Unified Messaging: Develop a cohesive advocacy narrative that combines data with human stories to influence public opinion and policy decisions.

• Coalition Action Plan: Define clear goals and roles for a Halton Housing Coalition, prioritizing collaboration, inclusivity, and resource-sharing among stakeholders.

• Focus on Systemic Change: Advocate for policies that address root causes of housing insecurity, such as wage stagnation, rent controls, and zoning reforms.

• Lived Experience Leadership: Create leadership opportunities for individuals with lived experience to co-design solutions and serve as community ambassadors.

• Expand Engagement Channels: Use a mix of public forums, social media, and local networks to mobilize broad-based support for housing as a human right.

The full report, summarizing the Forum (including highlights from both speakers, themes from all the calls to action, recommendations for individual action and resources ) is available HERE.

The report includes links to slides and videos from the presentations as well as links to resources shared at the Forum to support learning and advocacy.

Over 60 people have added their name to a list of people who want to continue the conversation to take collective action for housing rights. If you would like to join the list please reach out at office@cdhalton.ca

Fore more reading on rental affordability and policy considerations you may want to read CDH's Community Data Watch from November on Rental Affordability