A recent Ottawa Citizen article by Counellor Stéphanie Plante highlighted the critical role that a Housing First strategy has played in reducing homelessness in Finland. The article is particularly relevant considering the recent announcement by Canada’s Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland of a $99-million top-up for the Canada Housing Benefit, aimed at increasing rent support for low-income renters.
While this top-up may seem like a positive step towards addressing Canada’s growing homelessness problem, a closer look at research on the policy’s implementation raises questions about its effectiveness, according to Dr. Tim Aubry and Dr. Geoff Nelson, co-chairs of the Canadian Housing First Network Community of Interest.
In this op-ed in the Ottawa Citizen, they write that Concerns persist about the program's ability to address the core reasons people are without housing in the first place. They write that emphasis should be on strategies and initiatives that go beyond temporary relief and work towards sustainable solutions for housing security.
About the Canadian Housing First Network - Community of Interest
The Canadian Housing First l Network – Community of Interest (CHFN-COI) assists communities across Canada to develop, evaluate, and improve Housing First (HF) programs based on the Pathways model tested, adapted, and shown to be effective in the At Home / Chez Soi Demonstration Project.
The CHFN-CoI (formerly the Ontario Housing First Regional Network Community of Interest (OHFRN-CoI)), consist of HF champions, HF programs across Canada, policy-makers planners, managers, service providers, researchers, and persons with lived experience, including representatives from the housing, health, and justice sectors and Indigenous housing and support providers.
The CHFN is hosted by the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) and Evidence Exchange Network (EENet) at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.