Ontario Premier Doug Ford talks to the media on a construction site in Brampton, Ont., in May 2022. Later in the year, the Ford government justified its adoption of sweeping housing legislation and the opening of parts of the Greater Toronto Area Greenbelt for development, stating that it was needed to address “the housing supply crisis.”
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Evidence suggests that Ontario neither had a shortage of pre-authorized housing starts to accommodate its growing population, nor did it have a shortage of designated land to build such homes.
A new act in Canada bans non-citizens, non-permanent residents and foreign commercial enterprises from buying Canadian residential properties.
(Shutterstock)
Since foreign owners only represent a tiny segment of the housing market, it’s unlikely that Canada’s new ban on foreign homebuyers will make homes more affordable for Canadians.
Universities and colleges that seek to grow their student enrolments have an obligation to address student housing.
(AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Governments and universities have failed to prepare for an increase in housing demand amid planned enrolment growth in higher education and a crisis driven by treating housing as an investment.
Money can’t grow on trees, but it can be recycled.
siraanamwong/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Foundations mostly give money away in the form of grants. But there’s also a way for them to make a kind of loan that can stretch their charitable dollars.
By living a simple life that is fully contained in a vehicle, van dwellers are able to head out on a new adventure whenever they choose.
(Shutterstock)
Build-to-rent developments have been touted as a way to deliver affordable housing on a large scale. But, to date, the sector has not been focused on housing for people on lower incomes.
Residents of Miami’s Little Haiti have been fighting plans for a luxury development for several years.
AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
Miami is often held up as an example of ‘climate gentrification.’ But a closer look finds a bigger driver of flashy new developments in low-income neighborhoods.
The main driver of homelessness in Australia is housing costs – post-COVID rents, house prices and interest rates are all much higher. To house everyone, the housing system needs a major overhaul.
Protestors in Gqeberha, South Africa, demonstrating against gender-based violence.
(Shutterstock)
Improving access to affordable housing and increasing benefit assistance rates are some sustainable solutions to the chronic cycle of homelessness faced by women fleeing violence.
A homeless man folds his blanket from a night’s rest in an area in Beacon Hill Park in Victoria, B.C.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
‘Unlegislating’ poverty demands a new course of action from governments that focuses on the expertise of people living with poverty who understand acutely how public policies fail.
Targets of 50,000 new homes for rent at below-market rates and 1 million homes to improve affordability in general are positive steps, but the budget neglects the need to reform an ailing system.
Today’s low-income housing developments, like this one in St. Louis, are of a much higher quality than those of the past.
AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
The concentration of subsidized low-income housing developments isn’t as bad as residents fear: It actually increases property values – at a faster rate than other neighborhoods.
Hurricane damage to affordable housing can leave business owners struggling to find employees.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A new environment calls for new approaches to policy-making that can more effectively navigate the complexities of today’s world.
Tents line the sidewalk on East Hastings Street in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Cities like Vancouver should not clear encampments when people have nowhere else to go.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Cities are clearing homeless encampments, sometimes violently, without providing those who live there any alternatives. Long-term solutions are needed to help people off the streets.
While the Productivity Commission’s critique of the national housing agreement is justified, its faith in the market is not. The Albanese government is right to invest in building social housing.
Housing policy-makers should pay attention not only to how much housing is available and how often rental units turn over, but to residential stability and the quality of life that homes and neighbourhoods provide.
(Shutterstock)
The low-income homebuyers who obtained these homes were deprived of the financial security they were promised. They’re now eligible for at least $25,000 in reimbursements for repairs.
Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University