Edmonton Social Planning Council

Category: Resources: Housing

  • fACT Sheet: Encampments in Edmonton

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    Introduction and Recent History 

    Edmonton has seen a dramatic increase in the rate of homelessness since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. As of December 2023, there are 2,987 people experiencing homelessness in Edmonton according to Homeward Trust’s Homelessness By-Names List. Among this group of people, 57% (1,714) are provisionally accommodated, 17% (518) are staying in overnight shelters, while 22% (656) are living unsheltered (Homeward Trust, 2024). 

    As a result of this situation, more and more encampments, defined as “temporary outdoor campsites on public property or privately owned land” (Office of the Federal Housing Advocate, 2023) have been set up throughout the city among the unhoused population who do not use overnight shelters. 

    Prominent examples of encampments in recent years include Camp Pekiwewin in the Rossdale neighbourhood, which was temporarily set up in summer 2020 as “an anti-police violence, emergency relief and prayer camp with a harm reduction approach for house-less people sleeping rough” (Indigenous Climate Action, n.d.). Around this same time, another temporary encampment called the Peace Camp was set up in the Old Strathcona area to raise awareness for supportive housing and the need for a safe supply of drugs to prevent overdoses. It voluntarily closed in fall 2020 when new shelter spaces opened (Omstead, 2020). 

    As long as there have been encampments, there has been resistance against them. The matter has continued to come up as encampments – both large and small – continue to proliferate not only in and around Edmonton’s downtown core but also in other quadrants of the city, such as the west end and the south side (Parsons, 2024). The situation reached a fever pitch when the Edmonton Police Service targeted eight encampments in and around the inner city considered to be “high-risk” for closure through a series of actions between December 2023 and January 2024. 

    This fACT Sheet takes a human-rights approach to understanding encampments, and aims to provide context to the houselessness situation, why encampments form even if shelter spaces are available, and suggests ways forward that prioritize the well-being and dignity of these marginalized groups. 

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  • Blog: Get Your House in Order: Canada Marks National Housing Day, November 22

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    Written by Carrie-Anne Cyre, ESPC Volunteer

    November 22, 2023, commemorates Canadian National Housing Day, a day for Canadians to recognize housing as a fundamental human right. Established in 2019, the Canadian Parliament passed the National Housing Strategy Act. This Act acknowledged housing as a human right, compelling governments, and organizations to revamp housing laws, policies, and programs. It also emphasized a rights-based approach and highlighted the importance of community involvement in solving the housing crisis (1). While Canada may recognize housing as a human right, the reality is that increasing numbers of Canadians are having trouble accessing adequate and safe housing. Across Canada, many advocacy and health groups have increasingly sounded the alarm regarding the growing unaffordability of the cost of living in Canada, especially housing, which has become an increasingly urgent problem in urban centers. Indeed, the cost of housing is becoming increasingly difficult not only for low-income- Canadians, but for moderate-income households, individuals on fixed incomes such as Canadian social services, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, and Indigenous persons (2)

     

     

    Why is housing so expensive in Canada? The short answer is that Canadian housing is in short supply and experiencing high demand. While Canada has a low population, the nation has experienced the highest population growth among the G7 nations over the last decade. The Group of Seven, or G7, is an informal group used for comparing seven of the world’s more advanced economies: Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States (5).

    Population density is also a concern in Canada. Despite being the world’s second-largest country, covering over 9,984,670 km² with a slightly more than 40 million population, Canada maintains a low average population density of 4.2 individuals per square kilometre. Approximately two-thirds of Canadians reside within 100 km of the Canada-US southern border, primarily in the major cities of Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City. Although these densely populated regions cover only 4% of Canada’s territory, they accommodate close to 80% of the population (8). Notably, cities like Toronto and Vancouver exhibit lower population densities than their European or American counterparts. Vancouver, the most densely populated city in the nation, has about 18,837 inhabitants per square kilometre, about half that of Manhattan (9).

    Despite the growing population and low population density, Canadian politicians have only recently begun to address the consequences of decades of political and economic factors that have restricted housing development in Canada (10). Notably, during the 1980s and 1990s, as the Canadian government adopted increasingly neoliberal socio-economic policies, all federal funding for social housing was halted in 1993 (11). The repercussions of these spending cuts were substantial, leading to a significant reduction in construction of low or affordable housing units across the nation and the scaling back of various other Canadian social safety nets that also contributed to affordability (12). This combination of social austerity and the absence of  adequate building incentives has contributed to the rapidly developing crisis of poverty and homelessness that Canada finds itself in today.

    The housing situation in Canada has even worsened over recent decades due to a lack of prioritization of housing construction in federal policy. A combination of additional factors affecting housing construction and prices—including increasing urbanization, internal migration, immigration, foreign investments, short-term rentals, stagnant wages, resource costs, global conflicts, the COVID-19 pandemic, and inflation rates—has intensified pressure on existing housing (13). Canadians, especially in cities like Toronto and Vancouver, face significant challenges in accessing affordable housing.

    Despite acknowledging housing as a human right every November 22, Canadian housing policy has focused on relying on market forces and incentives to fulfill this commitment. The substantial surge in rental and purchase prices in recent years has further led to a marked increase in homelessness. Estimating the number of people experiencing homelessness in Canada is challenging. Statistics Canada reported an estimated 235,000 people who were unhoused in 2021(14). Still, this count is definitely an underestimate as it does not count hidden homelessness (individuals who are staying with friends or family), individuals at risk of homelessness nor people living in unsafe conditions (15). Even without exact numbers, it is clear that the population without secure, stable housing has reached unprecedented levels (16).

    Past policies have proven ineffective as they relied on the market to determine housing availability (17). Additionally, there has been insufficient funding for social housing, and when funding is provided, it often lacks proper evaluative or accountability mechanisms. To rectify this issue, the Canadian government must urgently prioritize addressing this problem and allocate sufficient resources. Housing is expected to become a pivotal issue in the 2025 Federal election, and we will all be watching.

    It has been estimated that an additional 3.5 million affordable housing units would need to be constructed by 2030 to stabilize housing prices 18).

     

    References

    1. NRHN. (2003). Right to Housing. Retrieved from https://housingrights.ca/right-to-housing-legislation-in-canada/.

    2. Canadian Human Rights Commission. (2023). Unaffordability and lack of housing among top systemic issues reported across Canada. https://www.housingchrc.ca/en/unaffordability-and-lack-of-housing

    3. Rentals.ca. (2023). Rentals.ca June 2023 Rent Report. https://rentals.ca/blog/rentals-ca-june-2023-rent-report.

    4. Canadian Real Estate Association. (2023). National Statistics. Canadian Home Sales See Downward Trend Continue in October. https://stats.crea.ca/en-CA/

    5. Government of Canada. (2023). Canada and the G7. https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/international_relations-relations_internationales/g7/index.aspx?lang=eng

    6. Hajnal, P. (2022). Whither the G7 and G20?, Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, 28:2, 127-143, DOI: 10.1080/11926422.2022.2027797

    7. Statistics Canada. (2022). Canada tops G7 growth despite COVID. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220209/dq220209a-eng.htm

    8. Statistics Canada (2022). Canada’s large urban centres continue to grow and spread. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220209/dq220209b-eng.htm

    9. Statistics Canada. (2021). Focus on Geography Series, 2021 Census of Population Canada. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/fogs-spg/page.cfm?lang=E&topic=1&dguid=2021A000011124

    10. Perrault, J-F. (2022). Which Province Has the Largest Structural Housing Deficit? Social Bank. https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/about/economics/economics-publications/post.other-publications.housing.housing-note.housing-note–january-12-2022-.html

    11. Pablo, C. (2022).City and Culture: Vancouver tops list of Canada’s most densely populated downtowns. Georgia Straight. https://www.straight.com/news/vancouver-tops-list-of-canadas-most-densely-populated-downtowns

    12. Osberg, L. (2021). From Keynesian Consensus to Neo-Liberalism to the Green New Deal: 75 years of income inequality in Canada. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. https://policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/75-years-of-income-inequality-canada

    13. Rozworski, M. (2019, June 14). The roots of our housing crisis: Austerity, debt and extreme speculation. Retrieved from https://www.policynote.ca/the-roots-of-our-housing-crisis-austerity-debt-and-extreme-speculation/

    14. Osberg, L. (2021). From Keynesian Consensus to Neo-Liberalism to the Green New Deal 75 years of income inequality in Canada. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Retrieved from https://policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2021/03/75%20Years%20of%20Income%20Inequality%20in%20Canada.pdf

    15. Statistics Canada. (2021). Health Reports: Characterizing people experiencing homelessness and trends in homelessness using population-level emergency department visit data in Ontario, Canada. https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x202100100002-eng

    16. Homeless Hub. (2021). How many people are homeless in Canada? https://www.homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/homelessness-101/how-many-people-are-homeless-canada.

    17. Canadian Human Rights Commission. (2023). Unaffordability and lack of housing among top systemic issues reported across Canada.

    18. CMHC. (2023). Estimating how much housing we’ll need by 2030. Retrieved from https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/blog/2023/estimating-how-much-housing-we-need-by-2030

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  • Research Review – Housing: A fight for the Right

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    The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed several systemic issues related to housing into the national spotlight, as a spike in financialization, homeless encampments and evictions compromise progress in the realization of housing as a human right. The Federal Housing Advocate’s annual report to the Minister presents key findings from research on these topics as recommendations to strengthen and improve the National Housing Strategy.

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  • DYK: The Cost of Shelter

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    Welcome to our monthly publication of Did You Know?, where we share themed infographics with the community. We hope you’ll learn something new and be able to share this information. This month’s theme is The Cost of Shelter, taking a snapshot of the rental market and the choices millennials are making around their mortgages.

    [/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][3d-flip-book id=”218625″ ][/3d-flip-book][/et_pb_code][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”0px|20px|0px|20px|false|false” border_color_left=”#a6c942″ global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_testimonial author=”Posted by:” job_title=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9hdXRob3IiLCJzZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJiZWZvcmUiOiIiLCJhZnRlciI6IiIsIm5hbWVfZm9ybWF0IjoiZGlzcGxheV9uYW1lIiwibGluayI6Im9uIiwibGlua19kZXN0aW5hdGlvbiI6ImF1dGhvcl93ZWJzaXRlIn19@” portrait_url=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9hdXRob3JfcHJvZmlsZV9waWN0dXJlIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnt9fQ==@” quote_icon=”off” portrait_width=”125px” portrait_height=”125px” disabled_on=”on|off|off” _builder_version=”4.16″ _dynamic_attributes=”job_title,portrait_url” _module_preset=”default” body_text_color=”#000000″ author_font=”||||||||” author_text_align=”center” author_text_color=”#008ac1″ position_font=”||||||||” position_text_color=”#000000″ company_text_color=”#000000″ background_color=”#ffffff” text_orientation=”center” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”0px|0px|4px|0px|false|false” custom_padding=”32px|0px|0px|0px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|off|off” _builder_version=”4.16″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_text_align=”left” header_text_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.65)” header_font_size=”20px” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||50px|||” custom_padding=”48px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9jYXRlZ29yaWVzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiUmVsYXRlZCBjYXRlZ29yaWVzOiAgIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6ImNhdGVnb3J5In19@[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

  • What you need to know about Stronger Foundations: The Government of Alberta’s affordable housing strategy

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    On Nov 1, 2021 the Government of Alberta released Stronger Foundations: Alberta’s 10-year strategy to improve and expand affordable housing, intending to outline the action needed to provide more affordable and accessible housing options for Albertans. While some aspects of the strategy are supported by VCC and the Edmonton Social Planning Council, there are also elements that pose considerable risks

    [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ custom_padding=”0px|20px|0px|20px|false|false” border_color_left=”#a6c942″ global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_testimonial author=”Posted by:” job_title=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9hdXRob3IiLCJzZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJiZWZvcmUiOiIiLCJhZnRlciI6IiIsIm5hbWVfZm9ybWF0IjoiZGlzcGxheV9uYW1lIiwibGluayI6Im9uIiwibGlua19kZXN0aW5hdGlvbiI6ImF1dGhvcl93ZWJzaXRlIn19@” portrait_url=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9hdXRob3JfcHJvZmlsZV9waWN0dXJlIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnt9fQ==@” quote_icon=”off” portrait_width=”125px” portrait_height=”125px” disabled_on=”on|off|off” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _dynamic_attributes=”job_title,portrait_url” _module_preset=”default” body_text_color=”#000000″ author_font=”||||||||” author_text_align=”center” author_text_color=”#008ac1″ position_font=”||||||||” position_text_color=”#000000″ company_text_color=”#000000″ background_color=”#ffffff” text_orientation=”center” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”0px|0px|4px|0px|false|false” custom_padding=”32px|0px|0px|0px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|off|off” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_text_align=”left” header_text_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.65)” header_font_size=”20px” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||50px|||” custom_padding=”48px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9jYXRlZ29yaWVzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiUmVsYXRlZCBjYXRlZ29yaWVzOiAgIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6ImNhdGVnb3J5In19@[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
  • fACTivist Feature Article: Addressing Racialized Populations’ Barriers to Affordable Housing

    fACTivist Feature Article: Addressing Racialized Populations’ Barriers to Affordable Housing

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    Note: this is excerpted from the Spring 2021 edition of our fACTivist publication. The Edmonton Social Planning Council, in collaboration with volunteers and colleagues within the sector, strives to provide stakeholders and community members with updates on ESPC’s activities and projects, including articles and initiatives that address a variety of pertinent issues that affect our community.

    Written by Sydney Sheloff and Brett Lambert

    Among Canadians who experience homelessness or housing instability, there is a disproportionate number who come from racialized populations—this can include Indigenous peoples, refugees, and newcomers alike. According to data collected by the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness’ Homeless Hub, the disparities are glaring. 

    For comparison, about 1 in 5 racialized families in Canada will live in poverty, while only 1 in 20 non-racialized families experience poverty. [1] Among populations experiencing homelessness, 28.2% of them are members of racialized groups, compared to the Canadian average of 19.1%. [1] While Indigenous peoples make up only 4.3% of the overall Canadian population, they comprise 30.6% of the youth homelessness population. [1]

    For refugees and newcomers to Canada, one of the biggest challenges is finding housing that is safe, suitable, and affordable. Across Canada, visible minorities make up 40% of renters in affordable and social housing (compared to 32% in market rentals and 23% in home ownership) while Indigenous peoples make up 9.4% of renters in affordable and social housing (compared to 3.8% of market rentals and 3.1% of home ownership). [2]

    Due to long wait times to obtain subsidized housing, these racialized populations may be compelled to look outside of affordable housing options and enter the private housing market. This increases the risk of finding housing that is too expensive, overcrowded, or illegally rented. As a result, they face an increased risk of homelessness and core housing need compared to other groups. About 10% of newcomer youth in Canada experience homelessness. [1]

    According to the 2016 federal Census, more than 164,000 households in Alberta are living in unsafe, crowded, and unaffordable housing. [3] As of February 2020, within Edmonton alone nearly 10,000 people were on the wait list for Capital Region Housing’s rental assistance program. [4] Among those experiencing homelessness, as of March 2021, 2,072 people in Edmonton are unhoused, according to Homeward Trust Edmonton. [5] Nearly 60% of them identify as Indigenous. [5]

    With this in mind, the need to improve the affordable housing situation couldn’t be more urgent. In response to this intractable problem, the provincial government put together an Affordable Housing Review Panel in the summer of 2020 to work towards solutions. The panel completed its work and submitted a report to the minister of Seniors and Housing on October 5, 2020. The full report was released to the public on December 11, 2020. [Note: The Edmonton Social Planning Council contributed to one of the panel’s engagement sessions with key housing sector stakeholders, in addition to a written submission.] 

    The panel’s recommendations focused on the need to develop provincial strategic plans for housing, encourage municipalities to develop local affordable housing plans, build the capacity of housing providers, and simplify the application process for tenants. It also recommended privatization of the sector by increasing the role of the private sector and shifting the government’s role from owner and controller to that of partner and funder. The ministry accepted all of the panel’s recommendations. 

    Knowing the present racial inequities that exist for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) to access housing, will the panel’s recommendations help or hinder the pursuit to close the racial gap? 

    While there is a lot to dissect and unpack in the panel’s final report, it is encouraging to see it acknowledged that housing solutions are not suitable to a one-size-fits-all approach and that communities across Alberta, along with different segments within those communities, have unique needs to account for. For example, the report highlights that successful programming for Indigenous peoples require the incorporation of cultural sensitivities. Similarly, immigrant and newcomer families may want housing suitable for large intergenerational families. 

    With that, the panel’s report emphasizes that fairness, equity, and inclusivity need to guide decision-making. Building off of this, the panel sees benefits to housing providers that own and operate their own affordable housing assets because they can more easily address unique housing needs from within the communities they serve, along with other custom solutions to known issues in their respective communities. 

    This could potentially be a good thing for racialized communities. BIPOC community organizations are likely very well aware of the unique issues that people in their communities face in terms of housing and also likely have unique solutions. For example, in Seattle, a collective of Black LGBTQ people purchased a plot of land in order to give housing to people in need within their community, as well as to push back against gentrification and displacement. They also built a community garden and healing space to address residents’ other needs. Members of the collective, including those who are housed by it, get to make decisions about how their housing is run. Innovative solutions such as these may be limited under the current system. 

    However, questions arise on whether community organizations have the capacity to own and administer housing. BIPOC communities have faced—and continue to face—social exclusion and economic disenfranchisement, which has limited their resources and power. BIPOC organizations must operate in colonial institutions that have historically oppressed them. Therefore, they may face barriers when attempting to operate housing. Additionally, many of these organizations are already overwhelmed caring for other needs in their community and may not have the time or energy to take on additional housing responsibilities. 

    While the report does outline the need to ensure sufficient capacity building, more concrete ideas of what capacity development actually looks like is required. Organizations that are Indigenous- or Black-led may need help that differs from that needed than a white-led organization. 

    An encouraging development is that the panel expressed an interest in rent subsidy programs for those who need temporary support but are not eligible for existing programs. If designed properly, these programs could have the potential to reach some of the most vulnerable populations to access housing, included racialized groups. Of course, this has to be balanced with the knowledge that cuts to rental assistance programs and suspension of housing wait lists occurred within the first year of the United Conservative Party government’s term prior to the formation of this panel (notably, this funding was restored in the latest 2021 provincial budget). Any progress stemming from the panel’s recommendations has to be tempered with the ground that was lost beforehand. 

    While the report has starts that are good ideas to deal with the unique housing needs of different racial groups, the explanations in this report seem vague and underdeveloped. Moreover, the prospect of the report being amenable to privatization of the affordable housing sector, and shifting governmental roles and responsibilities onto the private sector, is a source of concern. The needs of the most marginalized people seeking to access housing could fall by the wayside. 

    There are developments within the panel’s report that give reason for hope, but the report does come with important caveats, and the devil will ultimately be in the details. 

    Sydney Sheloff is Research Officer and Brett Lambert is Community Engagement Coordinator for the Edmonton Social Planning Council.

    Sources:

    [1] Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. (n.d.). Racialized Communities. Homeless Hub.  https://www.homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/population-specific/racialized-communities

    [2] Claveau, J. (2020). The Canadian Housing Survey, 2018: Core housing need of renter households living in social and affordable housing. Statistics Canada.  https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75f0002m/75f0002m2020003-eng.htm

    [3] Statistics Canada. (2017, November 17). Core housing need, 2016 census. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/chn-biml/index-eng.cfm

    [4] Wyton, M. (2020, February 13). Edmonton housing assistance waitlist balloons in wake of provincial funding cuts. The Edmonton Journal. https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/edmonton-housing-assistance-waitlist-balloons-in-wake-of-provincial-funding-cuts

     [5] Homeward Trust Edmonton. (n.d.). Program Data. https://homewardtrust.ca/what-weve-learned/performance-evaluation/

     

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