Last year, the Federal Housing Advocate developed evidence-based recommendations that respond to issues in Canada’s housing system and shortcomings in the National Housing Strategy. The recommendations the Advocate made during the course of 2022–2023 are included throughout this report, and compiled in Annex A.
This report is also an opportunity for the Advocate to make new recommendations. In the first year of the Advocate’s mandate, it has become clear that it is not enough to identify barriers to the right to housing and recommend solutions. Canada’s housing and homelessness emergency will only be effectively addressed when governments commit to meaningful, effective action.
The final recommendations contained in the sections below are focused on the mechanisms through which governments can demonstrate accountability and implement effective measures to address the many other recommendations in this report that the Advocate made throughout the 2022–2023 year. Detailed recommendations are available in Annex B.
The National Housing Strategy Act recognized the right to adequate housing in domestic law for the first time. To make this right real, governments must be accountable for its implementation. Implementing the right to housing in Canada is going to take all of us, working together. It is going to take sustained government action and resources. It will require commitment and coordination at all levels.