Home Inspection

For too many people, the “housing crisis” is more than just a well-worn phrase. Young adults are increasingly finding themselves priced out of owning a home. Rents have become exorbitant. New homeowners are taking on growing levels of mortgage debt. Affordability burdens even moderate-income households, and for low-income individuals the situation can be dire. As housing costs rise, so too does the number of people experiencing homelessness.

Two new books examine this situation from differing but complementary perspectives: Home Truths: Fixing Canada’s Housing Crisis, by the social policy researcher Carolyn Whitzman, considers the shortage of affordable homes while offering potential solutions from Europe and Asia. And Ending Homelessness in Canada: The Case for Homelessness Prevention, a collection of essays edited by James Hughes, the president and CEO of the Old Brewery Mission, in Montreal, analyzes the causes of homelessness and some...