Affordable housing is a major problem, with many Canadians struggling with high costs and the inadequate supply of suitable homes. These struggles can impact health, happiness, and financial stability, and may lead to homelessness and a cycle of housing insecurity.

Can this situation in Canada be changed? Can we learn from other regions?

The answer to both questions is a resounding YES!

Housing First is achieving positive results across Europe, with Finland being the leading success story. Several countries are implementing the program, achieving positive outcomes for the homeless and the underhoused.

Housing First prioritizes immediate, permanent housing with tailored social supports available for those who need assistance.

Housing First can result in affordable homes for everyone. Two years ago, The Guardian called Vienna the world’s most liveable city, with renters paying a third of what their counterparts pay in London, Paris, or Dublin. The report about a 26-year-old graduate student includes this:

[Schranz] pays €596 (C$962) a month for his 54 sq metre two-bedroom apartment – a fraction of typical rents for similarly sized and similarly located apartments in other major European cities. What’s more, he didn’t have to put down a deposit and his rental contract is unlimited – in theory, he’s allowed to pass it on to his children or a sibling when he eventually decides to move on.

A Canada West Forum in late February will discuss Affordable Housing and Homelessness. Panelists shown below are confirmed and we expect to add a senior housing official from Austria.

• Tina Alva, Director of Planning and Housing, North Vancouver District, which has developed strategies to meet housing objectives, particularly for increasing housing diversity and choice, and providing more affordable and rental housing.
• Professor Patrick Condon is the James Taylor chair in landscape and livable environments at University of British Columbia’s school of architecture and landscape architecture. One of Professor Condon’s publications is Broken City, Land Speculation, Inequality, and Urban Crisis.
• Juha Kahila, Head of International Affairs at Y-Säätiö, Finland’s largest provider of nonprofit housing. Juha is Coordinator, Nordic Homelessness Alliance and Coordinator, Housing First Europe.
• Sarah Marsden, Director of Systems Change and Legal at Vancouver’s First United, an important provider of affordable housing and essential services to people in need. Dr. Marsden’s PhD dissertation examined the role of migration status in the lives of people who identify themselves as having “uncertain” migration status in Canada.

The forum is planned for the last week of February. It will be livestreamed on Zoom, and anyone can watch and submit questions. There is no charge for the forum, but you are invited to join Canada West Forum Society and participate in organizing future events. Stay tuned for further information.

Additional forums will follow. Subjects will include:

• healthcare, 
• democracy and governance, 
• renewable energy,
• climate change, 
• Indigenous rights,
• introduction to national economics, 
• and others.

Follow this LINK to join our nonprofit society and even become and become an organizer. The cost is a mere $10 but you can contribute more if you are able.