Is the Right to Housing Being Realized in Canada? Learning from the Experiences of Tenants in Affordable Housing Units in a Large Canadian City

Kaylee Ramage, Meaghan Bell, Lisa Zaretsky, Laura Lee and Katrina Milaney
Additional contact information
Kaylee Ramage: Community Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cumming School of Medicine, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada
Meaghan Bell: Calgary Housing Company, Calgary, AB T2G 2M1, Canada
Lisa Zaretsky: Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada
Laura Lee: Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
Katrina Milaney: Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada

Societies, 2021, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-9

Abstract: Background: Housing is a critical determinant of health and a basic human right. Historically, Canada’s housing policies have not been grounded in a human rights-based approach. In the 1990s, a policy shift prioritized efficiency in government spending and deficit reductions over the provision of many social programs including affordable housing. With various levels of government now acknowledging and recognizing the need for more affordable housing, it is important to understand tenant experiences, perspectives, and needs to ensure policies and practices are supporting individuals appropriately. Methods: In total, 161 individuals participated in this study by completing online or in-person questionnaires. Results: Exploratory analysis of results revealed that although there were some positive benefits to affordable housing, many tenants continued to struggle financially, physically, mentally, and emotionally without adequate supports in place. Conclusions: These findings highlight the need for affordable housing to be part of a system of care that provides supports along a continuum. The results further reiterate that placing a person or family in affordable housing does not guarantee that their lives have improved. Without robust affordable housing models that prioritize the empowerment of individuals and families, housing policies may fail to fulfil the right to safe and affordable housing for Canadians, especially when considering historically marginalized populations.

Keywords: affordable housing; housing policy; human rights (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/11/2/53/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/11/2/53/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:11:y:2021:i:2:p:53-:d:567494

Access Statistics for this article

Societies is currently edited by Ms. Farrah Sun

More articles in Societies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().