1,000 signatures reached
To: All Levels of Government
Call for Housing
This campaign has ended.
Petition- The Call for a National Housing Strategy
We call on all levels of government to recognize the right to housing and immediately develop a fully funded national housing strategy that includes:
• The building of new accessible and affordable social housing
• The building of new supportive housing that includes harm reduction housing and meets the needs of substance users and people with mental health issues and other chronic illnesses
• The building of housing and infrastructure in collaboration with indigenous communities to ensure decent housing and access to clean water and sanitation in every community
• The renewal and expansion of housing subsidies
• The repair of existing social housing
Why is this important?
Join the Call for a National Housing Strategy
Canada is in the midst of a major housing crisis. Even the United Nations has called the state of housing and homelessness in Canada a ‘national emergency’ [1]. From students to retirees to middle and low-income families, millions of people suffer because they cannot afford suitable housing. As nurses, we witness the link between inadequate housing and ill health. We have seen poor housing and homelessness cause stress, malnourishment, impaired early childhood development, chronic illness and premature death. As nurses, we know that a housing crisis is a health crisis.
Our governments have created this crisis
In 1993, the federal government dismantled our national housing program. As a result, over 100,000 affordable housing units were not built during the last 20 years [1]. The provinces and municipalities, now saddled with responsibility for social housing, have never filled the gap. Since 1990, Canada’s population has increased by 30%, yet the annual national investment in housing has declined by over 46% [2]. The crisis has only worsened.
Today the crisis is widespread
Every year over 235,000 people in Canada experience an episode of homelessness. Homelessness though is the tip of the iceberg. Currently, one in five households struggles with the cost of housing and cannot afford both a home and necessities like groceries, medication, transportation and energy [2]. Meanwhile, the deficit in affordable housing has left hundreds of thousands of inadequately housed people stuck on provincial wait lists.
Cost of housing is not the only issue. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians live in unsafe and unhealthy housing conditions. The daily reality for many people living in rental housing includes overcrowding, mold, infestations and faulty plumbing. The housing crisis many First Nations communities experience is exacerbated by the equally dire emergencies of unsafe drinking water and high food costs. We can and must do better.
We can take action
In 1998, municipalities and community groups across Canada declared homelessness a national disaster and asked the federal government to take action. Some homeless shelters and additional services were gained, but we still don't have a national housing strategy. We must continue to pressure our governments.
Safe, affordable housing is a human right
As nurses, we call for a national housing strategy. Will you join us? Please sign and share our national petition and Call for a National Housing Strategy.
Sincerely,
Cathy Crowe, RN, BAAN, MEd- Street Nurse and advocate on homelessness and housing. Co-founder of the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee. Author of ‘Dying for a Home. Homeless Activists Speak Out’.
Jessica Hales, MN, NP-PHC- Nurse who provides primary healthcare to people who are homeless or precariously housed. Advocate on homelessness and housing.
Early Supporters:
ORGANIZATIONS:
COUNCIL OF CANADIANS, UNIFOR, CANADIAN UNION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, CANADIAN FEDERATION OF NURSES UNIONS, CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRES, KAIROS CANADA, ABORIGINAL NURSES ASSOCIATION OF CANADA, EDMONTON COALITION ON HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS, ONTARIO NURSES ASSOCIATION, CUPE ONTARIO, ONTARIO COALITION AGAINST POVERTY, AIDS ACTION NOW, REGISTERED PRACTICAL NURSES ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO, SOCIAL PLANNING COUNCIL OF WINNIPEG, RIGHT TO HOUSING WINNIPEG, ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS OTTAWA, CANADIAN UNITARIANS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, CANADIAN MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION- OTTAWA BRANCH, ADVOCACY CENTRE FOR TENANTS ONTARIO, NIAGARA POVERTY REDUCTION NETWORK, NURSE PRACTITIONER ASSOCIATION OF ALBERTA, REGISTERED NURSES ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO, BLACK LIVES MATTER- TORONTO
INDIVIDUALS:
DR. ALEX ABRAMOVICH, PROFESSOR DAVID ALPER, JOHN ANDRAS, MAUDE BARLOW, PROFESSOR AKUA BENJAMIN, PROFESSOR WESLEY CRICHLOW, DR. RITIKA GOEL, PROFESSOR DAVID HULCHANSKI, MICHELE LANDSBERG, TIM MCCASKELL, EMILY PARADIS, ALAN REDWAY, JUDY REBICK, DR. JOHN ROOK, SHELLEY SAYWELL, LINDA HASLAM-STROUD
Footnotes
1.OHCHR. (2007, November, 1). United Nations expert on adequate housing calls for immediate attention to tackle national housing crisis in Canada. United Nations Human Rights. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=4822&LangID=E
2. Stephen Gaetz, Tanya Gulliver, & Tim Richter (2014). The State of Homelessness in Canada: 2014. Toronto: The Homeless Hub Press.
http://www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/SOHC2014.pdf