Canada is struggling with an ever-worsening, multifaceted housing crisis. In Toronto alone, there are 100,000 people on wait lists for social housing.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
“Housing shapes health; health shapes work; work shapes income; and income shapes the next generation’s opportunities.”
That quote, from a report entitled “The Public Housing Dividend,” makes an important point: There are few things more impactful to our well-being, individually and collectively, than having roofs over our heads.
If you don’t have stable housing, it’s hard to be healthy, employed, and put food on the table.
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But Canada is struggling with an ever-worsening, multifaceted housing crisis.
In recent years, the homeless population has exploded. So too have encampments, the most visible manifestation. Rents have soared. So too has the price of houses.
The wait for supportive housing stretches to years. It’s not unusual for more than half of a household outcome to be gobbled up by housing costs. Even people with good salaries struggle to live in cities like Vancouver and Toronto. Meanwhile, many units sit empty as speculators quietly await big returns.
The housing affordability crisis is bad for our physical and mental health. And not so great for the economy.
The typically Canadian response has been to produce reports, lots of reports.
That comment is not meant to be overly cynical. Calls to action raise awareness and, hopefully, spur policy change.
But it’s a reminder that public policy in Canada operates in slow motion. We are not inclined to quick or robust responses, even to a problem as fundamental as lack of housing.
This is not to suggest that governments are doing nothing. There is an endless parade of housing-related announcements.
On Wednesday, for example, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced $2.7-billion in funding to bolster rental housing in Toronto. That investment will see the construction of 5,600 new rental units. At least 1,800 of them will be designated as “affordable,” and a portion will be supportive housing.
These new projects are welcome, but a drop in the bucket compared to what is needed.
Consider that, in Toronto alone, there are 100,000 people on wait lists for social housing and that half of the existing 60,000 units are so old and run down that they need to be replaced in the next decade.
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But in its report “The Public Housing Dividend,” the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis argues, as the title suggests, that more public housing is a good investment, generating $2.80 in return on every dollar invested.
The report also reminds us these investments need to be significant to be impactful.
By the CCEA’s calculation, investing $36.4-billion in public housing in the Toronto area would generate $102-billion in economic and social value over 25 years.
That $36.4-billion spend would allow for the construction of 22,000 new social housing units ($19.3-billion) and upgrades on existing stock ($17.1-billion) to keep those units functional.
Overall, the investment would result in 4,700 fewer people experiencing homelessness, create 14,900 jobs annually, and generate $12.6-billion in federal and provincial tax revenues over time. It would also reduce emergency department visits, hospital stays, and justice system costs to the tune of $1.8-billion.
“Public housing is not charity, and it’s not simply shelter, it’s productive infrastructure,” the report argues.
A second report, released Thursday, also reminds us that there is cost to inaction.
In “Homelessness Is A Housing Problem in Canada,” the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness shows that rising rents are fuelling homelessness, much more so than other factors like drug misuse and mental illness.
In other words, it demonstrates, with data, what we have long known: that lack of housing affordability is driving people to the streets. In cities where rents are highest, and availability of rental units is lowest, the number of people living with homelessness is most acute.
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“The logical conclusion from these findings is that solving homelessness requires addressing the housing needs for the lowest income Canadians,” the report says.
While that is true, governments can’t stop there. The housing affordability problem extends far beyond the homeless and those requiring social housing and supportive housing. Low-wage workers and even middle-class families need some relief too.
It need not all come in the form of government subsidies, but in policy changes that make building and renting homes easier, and more affordable.
The $115-billion, 10-year National Housing Strategy, launched in 2017, was loaded with good intentions. But the next iteration, which is being formulated now, needs to be more ambitious and hard-hitting.
On the housing front, we need more action, and fewer calls to action.