The document discusses issues related to housing insecurity and homelessness in Canada. It notes that housing insecurity has persisted and deepened over time. A lack of affordable housing is costly to individuals, communities, the economy and government. While efforts are being made at the community level, the federal government has not implemented a comprehensive national plan to address homelessness. Developing better housing indicators and evidence would help target funding and programs more effectively to improve outcomes.

1. Working together so
everyone has a good
place to call home
NLHHN
October 26, 2011
Michael Shapcott
Director, Housing and Innovation
The Wellesley Institute

2. Let’s get clicking!
Who is your favourite accordion player?
1. Kris MacFarlane from Great Big Sea
2. Minnie White, ‘first lady of accordion’
3. Words ‘favourite’ and ‘accordion’ don’t belong together!

3. Four observations:
!" Housing insecurity deep / persistent
#" Costly to people, communities,
economy, government
$" Federal housing / homelessness
investments eroding
%" No comprehensive national plan

4. Growing numbers
Changing face of
homelessness
Hidden needs

5. Complex links between housing,
homelessness, poverty, poor health

6. OECD – growing unequal

7. Bad housing makes you sick!
Homelessness:
Increased morbidity
Increased premature morality
Contextual:
Individual / neighbourhood deprivation
networks / friends / crime
Biological / physical:
Chemicals, gases, pollutants
Socio-economic: Design (accidents) / crowding
Affordability / energy
Transportation / income / jobs
Mental health:
Alarming rates... especially
Clinical depression and anxiety
Control / meaning
Collective efficacy

8. Good housing good for health!
Physical and mental health:
Better health outcomes /
decreased health care utilization
Environment / physical infrastructure:
New housing, repairs, heating, noise,
indoor + outdoor environmental issues,
allergens, water + sanitation
Community safety:
Reduced recidivism among
people leaving incarceration
Affordability interventions:
Income-based housing subsidies

9. “We are used to thinking of affordable
housing as a social and a health issue...”
“However, working to find solutions to
problem of affordable housing is also smart
economic policy. An inadequate supply of
housing can be a major impediment to
business investment and growth...”
Ba
df
bad or
for peo
eco ple -
nom
y

10. Homelessness is bad for business and the federal
government does not have a national plan to end
homelessness in Canada.
While solutions to homelessness exist and efforts are
being made by communities to implement solutions...
the government has been unable to reduce the total
number of homeless...
A national plan to end homelessness will clearly set
goals, objectives, metrics and outcomes and provide
the proper mechanisms...
September 2010

11. Federal gov’t: Housing investments
have big economic impact

12. The story thus far:
Ø Deep housing insecurity
Ø Poor housing = poor health
Ø Good housing = good for
health, good for economy

13. What’s happening in your community?
In my area over the last year, housing and
homelessness issues are:
1. Getting worse
2. Getting better
3. Staying about the same

14. UN Special Rapporteur, 2009
“Canada has a long and proud history of
housing successes, and has been known
around the world for its innovative
housing solutions. The Special Rapporteur
visited and received information about
programmes, laws and policies that
represent good practices... Canada can
also rely on a tremendous range of
academic and civil society resources.” !
“There has been a significant erosion of housing rights
over the past two decades. Canada’s successful social
housing programme, which created more than half a
million homes starting in 1973, has been discontinued.

15. 1980s and 1990s:
Era of big housing cuts
- even as economy roars

16. Federal housing cuts:
Federal 2011-12 Spending Estimates cut 39% in
housing investments from $3.1 billion last year to $1.9
billion this year, including 97% cut to affordable housing
initiative, 94% cut to housing repairs and 70% cut to
assisted housing.
Short-term federal housing and homelessness
initiatives expire in 2014: All short-term funding ends,
including July 2011 federal-provincial-territorial
affordable housing agreement. In addition, long-term
step out of federal long-term housing commitments
(started in 1996) continues...

17. $3,000,000,000 640,000
$2,750,000,000
620,000
$2,500,000,000
$2,250,000,000 600,000
$2,000,000,000
580,000
$1,750,000,000
$1,500,000,000 560,000
2001
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
housing program estimated h/hs
CMHC corporate plan

18. Total revenues: $153
million in 2010
In 2010, 40% of Newfoundland
Labrador Housing’s total revenues
came from federal government
(down from 58% in 2004)
CMHC contribution:
$60 million in 2010

19. $3,500,000,000
$3,000,000,000
$2,500,000,000
$2,000,000,000
$1,500,000,000
$1,000,000,000
$500,000,000
$-
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Federal, provincial and municipal
unadjusted housing spending
Can these trends continue???

20. From 1998 to 2008: As federal housing
investments erode, most provinces
increase housing investments

21. 2008 – unilateral housing
investments per capita

22. CMHC / federal housing cuts (2011 – 2015)
coming at a time when:
• feds restricting mortgage market
• # of h/hs projected to increase
• private rental market stagnant
• CMHC projecting growing surpluses ($1.5
billion in 2015)

23. Continuing the story:
Ø Erosion of federal housing
investments continues
Ø Provinces and
municipalities picked up
some of slack… until now…

24. Federal policy priority:
Reverse erosion housing
investments:
• CAEH - New national voice
• Council of Federation
• FCM

25. Housing needs in your community?
In my area, the top housing need is:
1. Unaffordable housing costs
2. Not enough housing
3. Poor repair in existing housing
4. Inadequate social / medical supports

26. Adding up numbers: 1990 to 2008
Canada:
• Median renter h/h income stagnant – up 5%
• Avg private market rent skyrocketed - up 43%
• Median renter h/h income (2008) - $33,100
• h/h income req’d for AMR - $32,160
Newfoundland and Labrador:
• Median renter h/h income down – minus 19%
• Avg private market rent skyrocketed – up 23%
• Median renter h/h income (2008) - $25,200
• h/h income req’d for AMR - $25,360

27. Shrinking rental housing supply - NL
Primary Vacant Secondary
rental units rental
2011 (1) 5,023 107 xx
2010 (2) 5,088 51 13,023
2010 (1) 5,170 58 xx
2009 (2) 5,213 51 12,896
Rental vacancy rates painfully low

28. Forecasting h/h growth to 2036
Canada:
• 2006 – 12.8m households (owner and renter)
• 2036 – 17.9m households
New housing starts:

29. New affordable homes under
Canada’s National Housing Act

30. ‘The very nature of homelessness makes accurate counts
and surveys … difficult. At the provincial level, precision of
homeless counts is not as important as having a strong
understanding about the magnitude of the problem and the
trends. For such a complex issue, good overall information
is critical if the government is to make effective decisions
and match its programs to the problems… if the biggest
cause of homelessness… is the gap between the cost of
housing and what people can afford to pay, then the
appropriate solution would be quite different than if the main
cause is poor mental health and/or addictions.’
- BC Auditor General, Homelessness: Clear Focus Needed, 2009

31. Dominion Housing Act - 1935!
(1) improvement of housing conditions, and
(2) absorb unemployment by stimulation of
construction and building industries
Dominion Housing Act is a
‘comedy of errors’ and ‘an act
to facilitate the financing of
homes for the middle class
who were not in the market.’
Percy Nobbs,
Dean of Architecture, McGill University,
January, 1936

32. Time for an adult
conversation
about housing
indicators and
measures
WI discussion brief
by Steve Pomeroy,
October 2012
Building evidence base for local,
provincial, national housing plans

33. Better evidence allows:
Communities to better target real
needs, and assess results
Governments to shift incentives to
reward better outcomes –
performance-based measures
NPs to attract new partners and
new financing…

34. Initial differences in social Population-wide Population size by
determinants and health by ethnicity, averages & disparity ethnicity, immigrant
immigrant status, and gender ratios status, and gender
Social capital Social capital
interventions Death rate
Health care
interventions
Behavioral
Chronically ill %
interventions
Unhealthy behavior Poor access to
& obese % health care %
Disabled %
Education
General health care
interventions
access trend
Undereducated (not
college grad) % Low income % Adverse housing %
(by low/higher income)
General low
income trend General adverse
housing trends
Jobs/income Housing
interventions interventions
Wellesley Urban Health Model

35. Continuing the story:
Ø Available numbers suggest
big housing troubles ahead
Ø Need better evidence to
better target funding and
programs

36. NL policy priority:
Robust housing plan built
from community up… with
targets, timelines, funding,
accountability for results

37. Supports for collaboration / innovation?
In my area, we have people and organizations
that are able to effectively work together on good
and promising practices:
1. No
2. Yes
3. Not sure

38. Thataway
Thisaway
Sometimes best route
isn’t obvious: Actual
sign on Banff hiking trail

39. “Wicked” policy problems cannot be “solved”
with a program here or an investment there.
They require interventions by multiple actors
over the long term. We can’t just throw up
our hands and say it all is too complex. We
need models of policy thinking, strategic
investment, and service interventions that
address complex problems…
Bob Gardner,
The Wellesley Institute

40. “Comprehensive community initiatives
have been developed to address exactly
these kinds of issues. CCIs bring together a
wide range of service providers, people
with lived experience, community leaders,
and other stakeholders to build broad
collaborations to address the roots of local
problems in their specific communities.”
Bob Gardner, The Wellesley Institute

41. Putting together the pieces:
Wellesley Institute’s collaboration initiative:
• promise + perils of working together
Integrated human services management:
• linking housing + other human services
Supporting a robust, dynamic NP sector:
• social innovation funding

42. “Moving from accidental and incidental
[collaboration] to intentional and
structured requires resources (from
non-profit organizations and funders),
knowledge exchange to share good
practices, and a coherent structure that
encourages collaboration and allows
for proper monitoring and evaluation.”
- WI collaboration initiative

43. Spanning spectrum from charity to
social purpose business to
commercial enterprise

44. Social finance /
social impact
bonds: Putting
private money
to public good

45. Sometimes our
engagement takes
us in surprising
directions, and with
‘unusual’ allies

47. “Our survey of Toronto housing conditions
reveals thousands of families living in
houses which are insanitary,
verminous, and grossly
overcrowded... Bad
houses are not only
a menace: they are
active agents of
destruction... they
destroy happiness,
health and life...”
Dr. H.A. Bruce,
Lieutenant-Governor
of Ontario, 1934

49. Thank you!
www.wellesleyinstitute.com