1. A new federal, provincial and territorial affordable housing framework agreement

Affordable Housing Framework

The three-story Liberal platform is an affordable housing framework and their platform calls for a National Housing Strategy that will address key components of the housing and homelessness crisis. The target of 25,000 units of housing per year by the end of the decade is actually higher than the recommendations from the SOHC 2014 report, which calls for 8,800 units per year.

The election housing platform states, “A Liberal government will invest in a National Housing Strategy that makes direct investments in affordable housing, provides tax incentives to expand affordable rental housing, improves data collection, reviews policies on housing in high-priced markets, and offers more flexibility for new home buyers…This investment will renew federal leadership in housing, help build more housing units and refurbish existing ones, renew current co-operative agreements, and provide operational funding support for municipalities, including renewing support for Housing First initiatives that help homeless Canadians find stable housing.”

Plans to End Homelessness

The Liberals have not announced any information about mandating provincial, territorial or municipal plans. In the interview with MP Vaughan he did state that municipal infrastructure plans would require information about how social housing issues will be addressed, but this is not equivalent to a Plan to End Homelessness.

Housing First

The Liberal platform says that it intends to renew “support for Housing First initiatives that help homeless Canadians find stable housing”MP Adam Vaughan says the focus on supportive housing in the first story of the Liberal housing plan “is built on the Housing First model but expands the definition”. He says the role of the federal government will be to provide capital and maintenance dollars but communities will have to show a service plan. Vaughan says that it is not enough to give people a roof over their heads and a key but rather “supportive housing is a critical component of any national housing program.”

Data Management

While the Liberals have not specified in detail how they will improve homelessness data collection although they have provided an outline of commitments to evidence-based policy and data-driven decision-making. In the Housing Platform they indicate they will be making Statistics Canada “fully independent with a mandate to collect data needed by the private sector, other orders of government, not-for-profits, and researchers. We will also immediately restore the mandatory long-form census to ensure data-driven decision making, including on housing.” MP Vaughan says that part of the renewal and re-mandating of the CMHC is to get it “back into the research game. We need to understand where housing markets are going so we can generate the housing.” Additionally, MP Vaughan says that the Liberal plan includes talking with partners and assessing best practices.