My presentation on the housing crisis at the Congress of Union Retirees (CURC) Convention September 19, 2018 in Toronto

1. Housing Crisis: the poor, the
Indigenous, women and seniors 1
John Anderson andersjs1@gmail.com at
the Congress of Union Retirees of
Canada
September 2018

2. Outline
•Crisis: What is the situation today
•Solution?: What is the National
Housing Strategy
•Focus: What does it do for seniors
•Action: What is to be done
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3. Part 1: Some 500,000 people on social housing
wait lists in Ontario…4.4 yrs for a senior
• 171,360 Ontario households are on social housing
wait lists in 2015 or some 500,000 people
• If we take Ontario at 38.6% of the population
then this means another 272,000 households
could be in need across Canada or some 800,000
people
• The Ontario list grew by 45,000 ho in 12 years
• 32% on the list in Ontario were seniors and their
average wait time was 4.4 years (Wait Lists in
Select Canadian Municipalities (2018))
http://qc.onpha.on.ca/flipbooks/WaitingListReport/files/assets/basic-html/page-9.html
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4. By City: Social Housing Waiting Lists
• Halifax – 3,519
• Montreal – over 25,000
• Toronto – 82,414
• Calgary – 4,000
• Metro Vancouver – 11,007 (2017)
• Whitehorse – 194
• Ottawa 10,479
https://chra-achru.ca/en/submission-to-the-pre-budget-consultations-for-
the-2019-canadian-federal-budget
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5. Part 2. Millions of people in core housing
need
• The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported in late June
2017 that some 1.6 million homes, or 13.6 % of all urban
households, were in core housing need in 2016, a figure relatively
unchanged from 2015.
• From the 2016 census, 40% of renter households are in core
housing need, defined as spending over 30% of gross household
income on rent, while 18% of renter households are in deep core
housing need, defined by spending over 50% of gross household
income on rent.
• https://chra-achru.ca/en/submission-to-the-pre-budget-consultations-for-the-2019-canadian-
federal-budget
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6. Part 3. Indigenous population
in very high level of core housing need
• Some 118,500 Indigenous households, or 18.3% lived in “core housing
need,” ..homes that stretched them financially, required hefty repairs,
or were too small for their families. The figure is 12.4% for non-
Indigenous people. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-indigenous-
housing-providers-raise-alarms-about-future-of-federal/
• 87% of Indigenous peoples in Canada live in urban, rural, or northern
settings not on reserves.
• The homeless population is disproportionately Indigenous – in Toronto,
Calgary, and Vancouver, the proportion of homeless are between 10 and
38% Indigenous, while in Winnipeg, Regina and Thunder Bay, that
proportion rises to over 70%.
• https://chra-achru.ca/en/submission-to-the-pre-budget-consultations-for-the-2019-
canadian-federal-budget/
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7. Part 4. Homeless at 200,000 per year
• The State of Homelessness in Canada 2013 report, estimated at
least 200,000 Canadians access homeless emergency services or
sleep outside in a given year.
• Recent data from a March 2013 Ipsos Reid poll suggests that as
many as 1.3 million Canadians have experienced homelessness or
extremely insecure housing at some point during the past five
years.
• The number of Canadians who experience homelessness on any
given night in Canada is estimated to be minimally 28,500
individuals.
• http://homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/homelessness-101/how-many-people-are-homeless-
canada
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8. Where are the 28,500 homeless each night?
• I. Staying in Emergency Homelessness Shelters (14,400). There are approximately
15,467 permanent shelter beds, and in 2009 an average of 14,400 were occupied
(Segaert, 2012:27)
• II. Staying in Violence Against Women shelters (7,350). In 2010, there were 9,961
beds for women and children fleeing violence and abuse. This includes not only
emergency shelters, but also transitional and second stage housing. In a Point in
Time count on April 15, 2010, 7,362 beds were occupied by women and children
(Burczycka & Cotter, 2011).
• III. Unsheltered (2,880). If one draws from the data comparing homelessness in
Canadian cities, one can estimate the unsheltered population. On average, for
every one hundred people in the shelter system, there are 20 people who are
unsheltered.
• IV. Temporary institutional accommodation (4,464). Of those communities that
count some portion of the provisionally accommodated, there are 31 people in this
category for every 100 staying in emergency shelters.
• There may be as many as 50,000 “hidden homeless” Canadians on a given night
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9. Part 5. The High Cost of Housing
• Rental
• Owning
• Seniors
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10. A crisis for renters in affordability
• 40% of renter households spend more than 30 % of gross household
income on rent, the generally accepted threshold of affordability.
• 18% of renter households spend more than 50% of gross household
income on rent
• Average Rent: $1,002
• Number of renter households in the country: 4,441,020 or 32% of
households
• 25 % of all renter households make less than $20,000 per year.
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11. Renting: Fewer and more expensive units
• Top 5 urban centres (100,000 people or over) with the highest
share spending more than 50 % of income on rent: ● Greater
Toronto, Ontario (23%) ● Greater Vancouver, BC (22%) ● Ottawa,
Ontario (20%) ● Montreal, Quebec (18%) ● Edmonton, Alberta
(17%)
• http://rentalhousingindex.ca/resources/FAQ%20and%20Backgrounder%20for%20NR.pdf
• The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says average rents
nationally went up in 2017 by 2.7 %.
• The CMHC says the overall vacancy rate for cities across the
country was three % in 2017, down from 3.7 % in 2016.
• https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/04/10/affordable-housing-crisis-
canada_a_23407878/
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12. Ownership rate roughly frozen since 2006
• More than 9.5 million of 14.1 million households
owned their home in 2016, a homeownership rate
of 67.8%.
• The rate of homeownership has been relatively
stable over the last decade. In 2006, the rate
was 68.4% and in 2011 it was 69.0%. In contrast, over
the period 1991 to 2006, the homeownership rate
rose from 62.6% to 68.4%.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/171025/dq171025c-eng.htm
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13. Home ownership rate lowest in Quebec 13

14. 2006 2016
Canada 68.4 67.8
Newfoundland and Labrador 78.7 76.7
Prince Edward Island 74.1 70.3
Nova Scotia 72 68.7
New Brunswick 75.5 74.4
Quebec 60.1 61.3
Ontario 71 69.7
Manitoba 68.9 68.7
Saskatchewan 71.8 72
Alberta 73.1 72.4
British Columbia 69.7 68
Yukon 63.8 63.6
Northwest Territories 52.9 53.7
Nunavut 22.7 20
Statistics Canada, Census of
Population, 2006 and 2016
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15. Seniors more likely to own homes and
younger people less so
• The homeownership rate was 43.6% among 20- to 34-year olds
in 2016
• 70.1% for persons aged 35-54.
• 76.3% for 55-64 year olds,
• 74.6% for the population aged 65 and over.
• Seniors were more likely to own their homes than they were a
decade earlier. 74.6% in 2016, compared to 72.2% in 2006.
• Conversely, persons younger than 65 were less likely to own their
homes in 2016 than in 2006.
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16. Median cost of housing shooting up 16
Median value of homes
2016 2011
Canada 341556 280552
Halifax 269126 240409
Montréal 300794 274939
Ottawa–Gatineau 349818 300985
Toronto 647648 421835
Winnipeg 299614 249951
Calgary 450406 400831
Edmonton 399932 350128
Vancouver 800220 598085

17. Part 6. Cost of seniors housing:
Ontario’s rate almost double Quebec’s
• 2016: The average rent for bachelor units and private rooms in Canada, where
at least one meal is included in the rent, rose 5% over the last year, from $2,107
to $2,210 per month.
• Quebec posted the lowest average rents ($1,527) while Ontario posted the
highest average rents ($2,978).
• The number of residents increased by 4.5% from 224,962 in 2015 to 234,989 in
2016 while the population aged 75+ increased by 2.8% for the same period.
• The capture rate, defined as the percentage of seniors’ population aged 75
years and over who occupied a standard or non-standard space, increased
modestly from 8.9 % in 2015 to 9.1 per in 2016.
• Quebec had the highest capture rate (18.4 %) in 2016 while Nova Scotia had the
lowest rate (2.0 %).
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18. Seniors’ vacancy rate higher in Ont. and BC 18

19. Part 7. Long term care: desperate present
and future need
• The current level is around 255,000 beds.
• In 2015, nearly 26,500 people were on the wait-list in Ontario,
equivalent to about one-third the number of available long-term
care beds.
• In 2016, there were approximately 721,000 Canadians aged 85 to
94 and about 16 % (118,000) were living in a long-term care
facility or alternative level of care bed
• In 15 years this population will double… 200,000 more beds
needed…where will those who need LCT go?
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20. Part 8. Immigrant and refugee housing crisis
• Much has been made of the influx of new refugees crossing through
unregulated border crossings in Quebec
• Both the Quebec and Ontario and Quebec governments have complained
about the lack of funding from the federal government for new refugees.
• The federal government recently pledged to give Ontario, Quebec and
Manitoba $50 million to help offset some of the costs
• Quebec has said its costs are closer to $146 million, while it is set to
receive $36 million from Ottawa.
• https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-ottawa-refugee-
ford-trudeau-1.4735313
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21. More important is the situation of all
refugees
• Last year, 18,116 asylum seekers skirted official ports of
entry to walk across the border into Canada at
unauthorized crossings, mainly in Quebec.
• According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
Canada, another 12,378 crossed over in the first seven
months of 2018
• But the irregular border crossers accounted for just over
1/3 of the total number of people who made refugees
claims in Canada last year – 50,469 in all.
• https://globalnews.ca/news/4391589/asylum-seeker-crisis-canada/
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22. Immigrants and refugees
• In 2016, Canada welcomed more than 296,000 permanent new
residents,
• In 2016 the Economic Class of immigrants included approximately
156,000 permanent residents.
• More than 62,000 people were admitted to Canada as resettled
refugees, as people who were granted protected persons status in
Canada through the asylum system,
• 78,000 permanent residents in the Family Class, which is 19 percent
higher than admissions in 2015
• This past year, Canada issued over 286,000 work permits to temporary
workers..
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23. Refugees take time to integrate but
economic immigrants less so
• For female refugees, the incidence of social assistance dropped
from 51.3% one year after landing to 37.5% five years after landing.
• For male refugees, the incidence of social assistance dropped from
41.1% one year after landing to 27.3% five years after landing
• Immigrant male average entry employment earnings for the 2003-2012
period were $52,300 to $62,700. Average employment earnings for
Canadian male taxpayers ranged from $52,800 to $54,000 during
the 2006-2013 period.
• Female economic principal applicants had average entry employment
earnings that ranged from $24,000 to $29,000 for the 2003-2012 landing
cohorts. Average employment earnings for Canadian female taxpayers
ranged from $33,300 to $36,300 during the 2006-2013 period.
• https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/annual-report-parliament-
immigration-2017.html
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24. Part 9. The National Housing Strategy .. a
solution?
• Canada’s new housing strategy A place to call home is a positive
step forward. Canada has been for many years one of the few G7
countries without a national housing strategy. The declaration in
the strategy that “housing is a human right” is a welcome
statement from the federal government.
• Also important is the recognition of the dire state of housing in
Canada. “But for too many Canadian families, a decent home is
simply not affordable. Across Canada, 1.7 million people are in
housing need, living in homes that are inadequate or
unaffordable. Another 25,000 Canadians are chronically homeless.
This needs to change. ”
• https://www.placetocallhome.ca/pdfs/Canada-National-Housing-Strategy.pdf
• http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a47s
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25. NHS goals too modest by half
• The main goals of “removing 530,000 Canadian families from
housing need and reducing chronic homelessness by half over the
next decade” are worthy goals, but are far too modest for a rich
country like Canada. Remember 530,000 is only roughly 1/3 of
households in need.
• The goals of building 100,000 new housing units and 300,000
repaired or renewed housing units over 12 years is far too modest
when there are over 36 million Canadians now and in ten years the
population is predicted to reach to between 38 and almost 42
million by 2027.
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26. Too small a contribution to the housing fund
• In the strategy, the largest part of the housing funding over the next 12
years will be from a $15.9-billion federally managed National Housing
Co-Investment Fund.
• “The Fund will consist of nearly $4.7 billion in financial contributions
and $11.2 billion in low interest loans.” This fund will integrate the
recently announced Rental Construction Financing Initiative and the
Affordable Rental Innovation Fund.
• “The National Housing Co-Investment Fund will attract partnerships
with and investments from the provinces and territories, municipalities,
non-profits and co-operatives, and the private sector, to focus on new
construction and the preservation and renewal of the existing affordable
housing supply.”
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27. Only $1.7 billion per year for the country
• This 10-year, $40-billion plan sounds good on paper but is only $20
billion in federal funds over a 12-year period, which amounts to
only about $1.7 billion per year for the whole country.
• Also, the entire rest of the $40 billion package relies on $20 billion
being contributed from the provinces and territories.
• And while some provinces are sure to match the federal funds,
there is no guarantee that all provinces will match the federal
funding. As well, the strategy has no clear role for cities, even
though cities are where most people live and where most new
housing will be built.
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28. The Canada Housing Benefit…
• The other major problem with the federal program is that it is
back-end loaded and not much happens until 2020.
• For example, there is an urgent need to address homelessness.
Yet, the key new program , the Canada Housing Benefit, which
will go to some 300,000 households by 2028 to help end
homelessness, will amount to only a maximum of $2500 per year
per family, and that benefit does not start until 2020.
• This would only mean about $208 per month per family, which is
not much help in Canada’s big cities. And an important
unanswered question is will families get this money or will it go
directly to landlords?
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29. Housing for older people is a very weak part of
the strategy
• The Strategy notes that seniors and senior women are particularly hard hit:
“Low-income seniors and senior women living alone are populations with high
incidences of core housing need.
• About a third of households that live in community housing are seniors. Senior
women living alone are more likely than senior men to live in core housing need
(27% compared to 21%).”
• Only 12,000 new housing units for seniors in total over 12 years are proposed.
With 5000 units are already promised from the last budget, only 7000 new ones
will be built through the NHS.
• Here again, 1000 units a year across Canada will do little to meet the needs of
older Canadians, who will soon form a quarter of the population by 2036
• In the NHS, only 12% of total new units are targeted for seniors. As well, there
are no monies set aside for moderate and middle-income seniors projects such
as co-ops and co-housing.
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30. Seniors Housing Strategy
• A real seniors’ housing strategy component is needed. A seniors’ strategy would:
• Increase the number of new seniors’ units to match seniors demographic place in
Canadian society. This means targeting 17% of new units right now and moving to
25% by 2036.
• Fund new co-housing and co-op housing projects.
• Assure that seniors housing is a component of all new forms of housing
development.
• Support adequate, appropriate, accessible, and affordable intergenerational
housing that meets the needs of seniors and younger generations.
• Plan for housing to include services to provide care “closer to home” when seniors
need support to remain independent in their own home and socially connected.
• Assure all provinces and territories offer seniors housing at Quebec prices
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31. Part 10. A first step would be to match the
past
• While these measures are all good, Canada can do better in meeting bigger
housing targets, and targets that would come directly from more federal
spending, as has been done in the past.
• From 1939-46, Wartime Housing Corporation, a Crown corporation, built 45 930
units which cost $253 million and also assisted in the repair and modernization
of existing houses. The population of Canada in 1946 was only 12.3 million,
compared to 36 million today.
• From 1947 to 1986 there were 253 500 public housing units built across Canada.
• And later, between 1974 and 1986, “governments shifted to funding non-profit
groups such as churches, co-operatives and municipalities in order to provide
affordable housing. More than 220 000 units of non-profit and cooperative
housing were provided to house families (50%), seniors (40%) and others (10%).”
Note that 40% of the new units built then were for seniors, whereas in the NHS,
the percentage target is only 12%!
• http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/housing-and-housing-policy/
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32. Carlin on golf and housing
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4w7H48tBS8
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