Europeans have been more successful at dealing with housing issues than Canadians. We can learn from them. Please join the Canada West Forum, HOUSING, THE AFFORDABILITY CHALLENGE. It will be livestreamed on Zoom on Monday morning at 9 a.m. A panel of five experts will participate. Among them is one expert from Finland and another from Austria. Panel members will discuss important issues related to housing.
At the Canada West Forum website, you’ll find a video contrasting two very different responses to homelessness. It shows formerly unhoused people in Finland now living securely and comfortably in permanent homes — a testament to that country’s commitment to long-term solutions. The video also examines American efforts to provide compact, temporary shelters — an approach that may offer short-term relief but is far less effective for people facing chronic housing instability. The Finnish model is explained by Juha Kahila, who will be a featured participant in the upcoming online Canada West Forum event, Housing: The Affordability Challenge.
UBC Professor Patrick Condon used Facebook to circulate an opinion from former NDP Minister of Municipal Affairs, Darlene Marzari. It had been published in BC Orders of the Day, a journal for BC MLAs.
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!
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.
Finland is the only country in the European Union where homelessness has been decreasing. The small Nordic country is hailed as a model for homelessness work and Finnish expertise is in high demand. One of the factors behind Finland’s success is the Y-Foundation, whose human yet effective operating model is internationally unique…
The 21st century has seen an explosion in the number and wealth of billionaires, driven largely by financial market surges, deregulation, and favourable tax policies. It is no coincidence that historic levels of global wealth inequality have gone hand in hand with conspicuous levels of poverty and homelessness.
With commodification of housing in Canada, homes are treated as investment assets, not just shelter. Investor-led speculation has led to soaring prices, rental increases, and rising homelessness. Housing has been turned into a wealth-extraction tool, impacting low-income families and essential workers most severely…
Professor Patrick Condon compares Vancouver’s adverse housing policies to the highly successful public housing projects in Vienna.
Patrick Condon is a Professor at the University of British Columbia. With UBC law student Thomas Kroeker, he authored The 50 Year Vancouver Experience on Housing Affordability with Adding Housing Density. The paper is republished here with Prof. Condon’s permission.
Four months ago, BC Premier David Eby and Housing Minister Christine Boyle received a letter signed by 27 housing and urbanist experts. Text of the letter follows:
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New analysis from Popular Democracy and the Institute for Policy Studies reveals how billionaire investors have become a major driver of the nationwide housing crisis – and several common-sense measures to help expand permanently and deeply affordable housing stock…
Marc Lee and Alex Hemingway of the Canadian Centre For Policy Alternatives issued a report on affordable housing. It is an analysis that is worth our attention. Some of the points made by the two economists who authored the report:
Failure to support the poorest and unhealthiest residents in our society is a form of collective violence. This is a choice that most of us would reject as individuals but we are more likely to accede to public policies, even if the result is cruelty…
I describe my own family’s move onto the property ladder many years ago. The costs are updated to 2024 dollars to demonstrate how out of control the housing industry has become. The only solution is strict regulation.
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