ending homelessness in kingston and across canada: what's the plan?
DESCRIPTION
This presentation examines the steps necessary to end homelessness in Kingston and Canada. Michael Shapcott, Director of Housing and Innovation www.wellesleyinstitute.com Follow us on twitter @wellesleyWITRANSCRIPT
Ending homelessness
in Kingston and across Canada: What’s the plan?
Michael Shapcott The Wellesley Institute
Queen’s University, October 2013
Housing and homelessness:
Measuring the need
State of Homelessness in Canada 2013: Canadian Homelessness
Research Network / Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness
Shelter usage: 818 people in 2012 - up 25% over 2011
Avg. stay: 28 nights - up from 22 days in 2010
10,389 renter households paying 30% or more for housing (47.8%) !7,277 owner households paying 30%or more for housing (15.6%)
Affordable housing wait list: general wait time - 6m to 8 years
Private rented housing: !296 vacant units in 2013 !Avg. market rent: $1,054 - up 37% since 2013 - inflation rate: 19%
!Renter h/h income - 2003 - $44,600 - 2011 - $32,100 - 28% decrease
What about Kingston?
How did we get so many precariously
housed?
Toronto 1911: Founding of
Wellesley Hospital
“The health of Toronto must necessarily mean the health of its citizens. It must mean, too, the continued progress and development of Toronto along desirable lines. ...but I fear, in all candour one must confess that this city, in common with every large city, has acquired inevitable ‘slum districts’... You will probably say: “But Toronto has few such areas and they are not of great extent!” I say, and I think you will agree with me, that Toronto wants none of them, and that the Toronto of the future which we like to contemplate will have none of them.” ! Dr. H.A. Bruce Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario 1934
Toronto
slum
s
trans
formed
into
good
homes
Bad housing makes you sick!Homelessness:
Increased morbidity Increased premature mortality
Mental health: Alarming rates... especially
Clinical depression and anxiety Control / meaning Collective efficacy
Homelessness: Homelessness:
Biological / physical: Chemicals, gases, pollutants Design (accidents) / crowdingSocio-economic:
Affordability / energy Transportation / income / jobs
Contextual: Individual / neighbourhood deprivation
networks / friends / crime
Good housing good for health!Physical and mental health:
Better health outcomes / decreased health care utilization
Community safety: Reduced recidivism among people leaving incarceration
Affordability interventions: Income-based housing subsidies
Environment / physical infrastructure: New housing, repairs, heating, noise,
indoor + outdoor environmental issues, allergens, water + sanitation
Toronto 1911: Founding of
Wellesley Hospital
Making the connections
Wellesley Urban Health Model
Social exclusion... ...cultural adequacy:
The equity lens
Systems thinking: How interconnections in complex, dynamic
world impact our lives and our health
“After 20 years of continuous decline, both inequality and poverty rates have increased rapidly in the past 10 years,
now reaching levels above the OECD average.”OECD (2008), Growing Unequal? : Income Distribution and
Poverty in OECD Countries
Inequality
Inequality and private
housing markets
increasing out or reach95% of Canadians live in homes in private ownership / rental markets
Selected policy recommendations for OECD countries from Divided We Stand •Reforming tax and benefit policies is
the most direct instrument for increasing redistributive effects. Large and persistent losses in low-income groups following recessions underline the importance of government transfers and well-conceived income-support policies. •The growing share of income going to
top earners means that this group now has a greater capacity to pay taxes. In this context governments may re-examine the redistributive role of taxation to ensure that wealthier individuals contribute their fair share of the tax burden.
Toronto 1911: Founding of
Wellesley Hospital
OECD social expenditures
Canada 32nd out of 34
‘Social spending in Canada relies more on public services (education, housing,
health, etc.) than on cash transfers, such as unemployment and family benefits.’
OECD, 2011
How recent spending + tax policies favour highest income households
Survey of Household Spending 2011
0.50%
0.60%
0.70%
0.80%
0.90%
1.00%
1.10%
1.20%
1989
19
90
1991
19
92
1993
19
94
1995
19
96
1997
19
98
1999
20
00
2001
20
02
2003
20
04
2005
20
06
2007
20
08
2009
Federal housing investments as a percentage of GDP)
Government Revenues and Expenditures 2009
SupplySupply
When the feds cut a dollar in housing investments… matching funds from
provinces, territories, municipalities, community and business are lost
Ontario Public Accounts
SupplySupply
Federal housing investments (in millions)
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation 2012
$1,500
$1,750
$2,000
$2,250
$2,500
$2,750
$3,000
$3,250
2007
20
08
2009
20
10
2011
20
12
2013
20
14
2015
20
16
2017
450000
500000
550000
600000
650000
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
626,300 homes in 2007 492,500 homes in 2017 Loss of 133,800 homes
22% of entire stock
SupplySupply
Federally subsidized homes
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation 2012
Four observations: !!
1.Housing insecurity deep / persistent 2.Costly to people, communities,
economy, government 3.Federal housing / homelessness
investments eroding 4.No comprehensive national plan
1993 -‐ feds cancel new social / affordable housing funding
1996 -‐ feds start to download most exis<ng housing to P /T
1995 -‐ Ontario cancels new social / affordable housing funding
1998 -‐ Ontario starts to download housing to municipali<es
$400,000,000
$900,000,000
$1,400,000,000
$1,900,000,000 20
00
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Municipal housing investments (in dollars)
Government Revenues and Expenditures 2009
Toronto 1911: Founding of
Wellesley Hospital
John Peters Humphrey: ‘Father of modern international human rights system’
Toronto 1911: Founding of
Wellesley Hospital
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
!
Article 11 1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right...
Toronto 1911: Founding of
Wellesley Hospital
City of Kitchener (2010) Ontario Municipal Board
Discriminatory municipal bylaw on spatial separation !“Statutory tribunals empowered to decide questions of law are presumed to have the power to look beyond their enabling statutes in order to apply the whole law to a matter properly in front of them.... The presumptive power to look beyond the tribunal's enabling statute is triggered simply where a tribunal (with the authority to decide questions of law) is confronted with "issues... that arise in the course of a case properly before” it....”
Victoria (City) v. Adams (2009) BC Court of Appeal
Municipal bylaw criminalizing activities associated with homelessness
“The use of international instruments to aid in the interpretation of the meaning and scope of rights under the Charter, and in particular the rights protected under s. 7 and the principles of fundamental justice, is well-established in Canadian jurisprudence.”
Practical proposals: The Mexico City Charter
!National Survey on Housing: !
• 71% want national housing plan • 66% want increased fed funding • 73% want increased focus on
homelessness
!1.4.3 - Planning authorities shall provide for an appropriate range and mix of housing types and densities to meet projected requirements of current and future residents… permitting and facilitating all forms of housing required to meet the social, health and well-being requirements of current and future residents, including special needs… !Affordable means in the case of rental housing, the least expensive of: !1. a unit for which rent does not exceed 30% of gross annual
income for low and moderate income households; or !2. a unit for which rent is at or below the average market rent…
!Municipalities are required to: !
• develop and implement 10-year plans to end homelessness and ensuring adequate housing for all
• consult widely • ensure measurable, improved outcomes • report annually on progress
Does Kingston’s plan meet the tests?
!Discuss… does Kingston’s plan: !
• set targets to meet housing needs of everyone? • ensure measurable, improved outcomes? • identify the tools / funding required to meet the
named outcomes? • report annually on progress?