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.
Categories: Housing
in-sights.ca 
The Gordon Campbell/ChristyClarke years did not bode well for BC.
The same Developer real estate views are still widely adhered t in BC.
I think it is time to dump the everyone should and can own a home and make having a roof over your head a priority owned, rented or given.
Germany and Switzerland have the majority of people living in rented housing whilst still enjoying a comfortable lifestyle.
TB
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https://ysaatio.fi/en/news/homelessness-on-the-rise-in-finland/
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Mr Edwardson, thanks for the link,
https://ysaatio.fi/en/news/homelessness-on-the-rise-in-finland/
The number of homeless people has started to rise. According to the report published by ARA on 10 February, there are 3806 homeless people in Finland, 377 more than last year. Homelessness has fallen for 11 consecutive years
The homeless count in Canada?
https://madeinca.ca/homelessness-statistics-canada/
On any given night, approximately 60,000 to 67,000 people experience homelessness in Canada, while annual estimates suggest over 235,000 Canadians face some form of homelessness each year.
Nightly and Annual Estimates
According to the 2024 national Point-in-Time Cxount, nearly 60,000 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night across 74 communities , and including additional communitoes , the tot6sal exceeds 67,000.
These counts include individuals in emergency shelters, transitional housing, and unsheltered locations, with 35,864 in shelters, 17,088 unsheltered (including 4,982 in encampments), and 6,872 in transitional housing.
Annual estimates are broader, accounting for people who experience episodic or hidden homelessness, such as those temporarily staying with friends or family. These estimates suggest that well over 235,000 Canadians experience some form of homelessness or insecure housing over the course of a year.
Toronto has the most homeless people in Canada.
66.7% of homeless people in Canada are males
33.10% of Canadian homeless come from Indigenous communities.
86% of homeless shelters in Canada are in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, and Alberta, and 40% of them are in Ontario alone.
24% of shelters are aimed at young homeless in Canada, while 23% of people experiencing homelessness are 13-24 years old.
The annual cost of homelessness is around $7 billion.
The Canadian Government is investing $4 billion over ten years to expand funding for the homeless.
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Finland is determined to end homelessness by 2027.
Canada makes no such claim.
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Given his track record with promises to end homelessness, it would be understandable if Canada’s current Minister of Housing and Infrastructure refrained from making any such claim.
He has claimed however, that much of his failure to end homelessness as promised during his lengthy tenure as Mayor of Vancouver was the result of senior governments (especially the feds) not stepping up to the plate.
Now is his time to show us his excuses were valid. He’s in the batter’s box. I wish him luck.
The news out of Finland regarding a (hopefully temporary) uptick in homelessness shows what happens when supports are unwisely cut, and how close to the edge many people are living. But the history of success there and the rapid identification of the slide would seem to indicate that getting back on track by 2027 is a realistic goal.
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