As the Communications Lead at the National Right to Housing Network (NRHN), I spend a lot of time thinking about how we talk about housing in Canada. And more importantly, how we can talk about it as the fundamental human right that it is.
In 2019, Canada passed the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA) –the first piece of domestic legislation to recognize that housing is a fundamental human right for all. It was a historic moment for us in Canada, and it changed the conversation. But it also raised a question I hear often: “What does it really mean for housing to be a human right?”
First, it does not mean that the government must automatically give everyone a house. Human rights do not work like flipping a switch. Instead, they work by something called progressive realization –meaning the government has a legal obligation to take concrete, measurable steps toward ensuring everyone has adequate housing (for example through program decisions or investments), especially for those individuals in greatest housing need. It requires a plan of action, mechanisms for accountability, and a commitment to ensuring housing is not treated as a profit-making commodity, but as something essential to human dignity and safety.
Housing as a Human Right—Not a Commodity
To fully realize housing as a human right we have to confront one of its biggest barriers: the financialization of housing. The financialization of housing refers to the treatment of housing as investment vehicles first and places to live second. When housing becomes a commodity, renters (who make up over a third of Canada’s households) and those experiencing homelessness looking to secure a rental unit, get left behind.
That is why, earlier this year, NRHN launched our First 100 Days: Housing for People, Not Profits, letter-writing campaign. We called on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to commit, within its first 100 days in office, to developing a plan to address financialization and meet its human rights obligations under the NHSA.
Part of our call to action included a rights-based approach to housing that requires more than simply building new units. It also means strengthening tenant protections, prioritizing people in greatest housing need, and investing in non-market housing that keeps communities stable and affordable, including community and non-profit housing, co-ops, and community land trusts.
Housing supply alone will not stop people from losing their homes due to renovictions, bad landlord practices, poor maintenance, skyrocketing rents, the loss of affordable housing stock, discrimination, gender-based violence, and other deeply rooted issues in our housing system.
And too often, the people who bear the brunt of these systemic issues are women, gender diverse people, Black, Indigenous and racialized renters, newcomers, and other individuals whose lived experiences have been largely ignored.
Why Rights-Based Housing Policy Is Gender-Based Violence Prevention
The lack of safe, affordable, and accessible housing is so much more than just a policy issue –it is a human rights issue.
When rents soar, when renters' protections are weak, when shelters are full, and when landlords have disproportionate power, women and gender diverse people often bear the brunt. Experiences of gender-based violence are one of the leading causes of housing precarity and homelessness for women and gender diverse people nationwide. Yet our systems often make it harder for these same groups to find safe, stable housing when they need it most.
The consequences of weak tenant protections are real. Take Ontario’s recent Bill 60, which threatens to roll back key tenant protections and make it easier for landlords to evict people. It was only because of the strong pushback from renters, advocates, and politicians that the Ontario government decided to walk back on some of the proposed changes. That said, provisions to incentivize renovictions and make it harder for tenants to pay back arrears and instead face eviction—are still being pushed through by the Ontario government.
What We Called for and Why It Matters
In our First 100 Days campaign, we urged the federal government to take action. Our calls to action directly support the safety and well-being of those in greatest housing need, including women and gender diverse people.
Moving Forward and Why I Am Still Hopeful
There is a lot of work ahead, but there is also so much momentum. The housing justice movement in Canada is strong, and advocates, lived experts, tenant organizers, and other network partners are taking us one step closer to fully realizing the human right to housing for everyone every day.
For example, we were encouraged by the federal government’s recent $660 million investment in Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) thanks to effective advocacy from our partners, like YWCA Toronto, in the feminist sector. When governments invest in gender equality, they invest in networks of care, trust, and safety that allow people to thrive. Housing justice and gender justice are connected, each strengthening the other.
Through the Neha review panel, Canada’s second-ever review panel, we are also hearing powerful testimony from women and gender diverse people about the systemic barriers they face when trying to access adequate housing and the solutions that must be put forward to address these issues.
And while the federal government’s Budget 2025 and Build Canada Homes signal renewed attention to housing—especially affordable housing—we will continue to ask the questions: Affordable to who? Accessible to who? I look forward to continuing to push for stronger renter protections, the preservation of existing affordable stock, and explicit recognition of housing as a human right—all of which were missing from the budget.
________
Jessica Tan is the Communications Lead of the National Right to Housing Network—a group of key leaders, thinkers, experts and people with lived experience of housing precarity and homelessness, with a mission to fully realize the right to housing for all and ultimately eliminate homelessness in Canada.