Housing Rights

How has Canada strayed so far from the human rights it claims to protect? Walk any city street and you will see a heart-stopping number of people without homes — without the basic elements needed to live with dignity. We hear a lot about Canada’s housing crisis, but it’s actually something bigger. It is a human rights crisis.

As a nation, we have made international commitments to uphold housing as a fundamental human right. Some components of this right are legislated. Federal, provincial, and territorial laws guarantee equal treatment without discrimination, for example. Other laws lay out our rights as tenants and homeowners and protect us from unlawful eviction and unsafe housing. Courts have, in rare cases, invoked the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to strike down municipal bylaws that prevent homeless people from creating temporary shelters of plastic or cardboard in parks. But courts have not addressed the failure of governments to ensure access to...