“The goal of a Canadian Housing Framework is simple, yet fundamental: to ensure that all Canadians, regardless of circumstance, have a safe, affordable place to call home.”

         – The Honourable Joe Fontana, Minister of Labour and Housing, 2005

In early 2005 those words signalled what many hoped would be a renewed push to truly address the ever-present housing crisis in Canada. Minister Fontana’s office and two government entities, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) and the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) undertook a series of consultations to set about creating a new Canadian Housing Framework.

The government consulted with experts in the field, with nonprofit organizations, and with private stakeholders to determine how best to address the needs of the nearly 200,000 people who experience homelessness in Canada every year. These discussions were designed to start a process whereby a comprehensive national housing policy could finally be put in place. According to some, this process has led nowhere. As one participant in the consultation’s published report commented, “…stop studying it so much, just do something.”

Promises made but nothing is happening

Michael Shapcott is co-chair of the National Housing and Homelessness Network (NHHN) and an outspoken social housing advocate. He took part in the consultations and believes the government hasn’t really moved on this issue at all since then. In fact, according to the NHHN, it’s been more than four years since the government last promised major funding; promises that Shapcott says have amounted to nothing more than rhetoric over the years. “In the 2000 federal elections [the then housing minister] Alfonso Gagliano, promised that the Liberals, if re-elected, would build 160,000 new affordable homes over four years. As we know from the Gomery inquiry, Minister Gagliano was very busy in those days. Sadly he was not busy building new homes,” he quips. The promise the feds guaranteed was $680 million in funds under their Affordable Housing Framework (AHF) program. It was to be matched by the provinces for a total of $1.36 billion. The promise fell short.

“Over the last four years the federal government has probably funded somewhere between 12,000 to 13,000 new homes across the country. The numbers are pretty hard to get because the government is pretty coy about releasing statistics,” says Shapcott. Despite this, the Liberals have continued to guarantee more funding for housing.

Long-term commitment is needed

In 2003 an additional $320 million was pledged to keep the housing program going. This past summer, the NDP succeeded in getting the Liberals to commit a further $1.6 billion with Bill C-48 (more popularly known as the “Layton” Bill). But this money is only available for the next two years. People like Shapcott want a long-term commitment from the government to finally install a perpetual, overarching housing policy that communities can rely on.

Community leaders say that while promises are nice, real action is needed now, not only in dollars, but also in a streamlined system that eliminates the current complicated, multi-jurisdictional bureaucracy that often prevents access to the funds.

Nonprofits face frustrating roadblocks

The complex system frustrates Deb Gemmel, executive director for RAISE home services for the elderly in Kitchener, Ontario. “What often happens is you get the operating dollars, but you don’t get money to actually build the house. Our municipality provides grants but…the difficulty is figuring all of this out,” she says. Gemmel is far from alone in her upset.

Kathleen Szoke is co-chair of Affordable Housing Halton. Like most communities, they too are feeling the housing crunch. “Approximately 1,200 people-a-year become homeless in Halton,” she says. “The waiting list for affordable assisted housing is five to seven years. If you’re a single person waiting for a one-bedroom, you’ll be waiting the maximum.” And Halton is one of the lucky areas.

The region receives federal funding from the Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative (SCPI), a six-year program first put in place back in 1999 under the National Homelessness Initiative (NHI). The NHI was designed to help ensure community access to programs, services, and support for alleviating homelessness in communities located in all provinces and territories. It’s not that easy.

“In order to get funding, you have to dot all the Is and cross all the Ts,” says Szoke. “People are in desperate straits. [No new affordable] housing has been built [in Halton] in ten years. We need the money yesterday. It’s very frustrating…a long, drawn-out process. There needs to be cooperation through the levels of government.” Despite this, Szoke remains optimistic that promises of new monies will be kept. Others remain skeptical.

A disturbing historical pattern

Shapcott warns of a disturbing historical pattern to the government’s affordable housing declarations. “Federal, provincial, and territorial housing ministers have made 336 announcements since they signed the AHF and agreed to invest $1.36 billion over five years,” he writes on the NHHN website. “That’s a lot of political spin, but it hasn’t produced many new homes.” Shapcott also anticipates another announcement soon regarding the $1.6 billion promised from Bill C-48, but thinks it may not amount to much.

On their end. the government insists that will not be the case this time around. Housing and Labour Minister Joe Fontana is putting a positive face on any upcoming statements. “I think it’s important for people to know how the federal government is going to work with all stakeholders, and especially the provincial and territorial governments, as we move forward to building more affordable housing. Why? Because there are 4.5 million Canadians that are still in core need. I hope that our Canadian Housing Framework will address the total continuum of housing,” he says.

When asked about the pending $1.6 billion from Bill C-48, the minister is wary to answer too specifically because no final determinations have been made. “In the near future we’ll be making announcements on the C-48 money and on the Canadian Housing Framework. Future commitments will have to await the budget,” he says.

Fontana also points out that while he recognizes there is still much work to be done on the issue, the government already has many successful programs in place to address affordable housing needs. “In the past five years, the federal government has contributed something like $1.1 billion dollars for our homelessness initiatives. So we’ve built an infrastructure of care. But we need to make it permanent,” he says. The government has also used its economic policy through the CMHC to further aid those in need.

Still a long way to go and no guarantees

“We’ve waved the premiums for social and cooperative housing. We want to find ways to make home ownership possible for people. And low interest rates make that possible,” says Fontana. But there’s still a long way to go and no guarantee that a besieged Liberal government will be able to keep these promises in the next year now that the NDP has declared its intent to force an election in February.

At the NHHN, Shapcott continues to fear the worst. “Minister Fontana has assured us that a revised proposal is going to cabinet sometime this month that will incorporate the consultation process and the $1.6 billion,” he says. “But because it’s all in front of cabinet, it’s a big secret and there are no details.”

As National Housing Day approaches on November 22, millions of Canadians facing another year of housing uncertainty hope the secret is revealed soon.

Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf is a freelance writer living in Toronto. He can be reached at aajzenkopf@yahoo.com.