Affordable Housing and Homelessness

Across this country, we have an affordable housing crisis.

People are living in tents. People are “couch-surfing”. Home ownership is all but a dream for many.

Imagine what our communities would look like if an additional half a million units of affordable housing were built across this country.

The reality is that families, individuals, single parents and seniors alike are unable to obtain safe, secure, and affordable housing. This is a very real struggle for so many in Vancouver East and across the country. This national problem is of crisis proportions and is steadily worsening. For example, 2018 statistics for the City of Vancouver showed the highest number of people living homeless since the first regional homeless count in 2005. Indigenous peoples face even larger barriers to securing safe affordable housing, and accounted for 40% of the homeless people living in the region, despite being only 2.2% of the overall population. These numbers are unacceptable, because each number represents people in our community who are in crisis.

Our current housing crisis started in 1993, when the Federal Liberals cancelled the National Affordable Housing Program.

As a result, this country lost out on half a million units of affordable housing that would otherwise have been built.

The impact is real and significant. I have met school children who tell me that they are worry about their housing situation. Women who were fleeing domestic violence are left with no choice but to return to the abuser because she cannot secure housing. Families had their children apprehended for no other reason other than the fact that they could not meet their housing needs. The homeless population are becoming more desperate. In one instance, I learned that a fight broke out because people were fighting for awning space in an attempt to stay dry as heavy rain poured down. It is high time for government to deliver what so many across the country have called for – a National Affordable Housing program.

Housing is a human right
Speech delivered on January 31, 2019 in favour of the NDP Motion to take immediate action on Canada’s Housing Crisis.

IN COMMITTEE - HUMA#55: Questioning the housing minister & CMHC CEO on national housing invitiative and housing benefit

Media Release: NDP blasts Liberals for failing to crackdown on greedy corporate landlords

“Under this liberal government, the cost of rent for Canadians went up 60 per cent,” said Kwan. “Liberals are letting corporate landlords rip off Canadian families by jacking up rent when they bring in a new tenant, and vacancy rates are lower than ever.”
Kwan says that the Liberals are making it easy for corporate landlords to get a profitable pay day on the backs of Canadian families struggling to find a home they can afford in their own communities.
“Letting corporations and speculators turn our housing market into a casino for the ultra-wealthy is wrong,” added Kwan. “But the Liberals have turned their backs on renters. When are the Liberals going to crackdown on the profiteering of corporate landlords that is keeping families from finding a home they can afford?”

HANSARD: Jenny asks when the government will stop letting corporate landlords roam free

HANSARD: Will the minister initiate a Vancouver Agreement bringing all levels of government together to address the crisis in DTES?

Canadian Press: As NDP gathers to talk strategy, MPs vow to keep Liberals at their word on pharmacare

"We'll absolutely be watching very carefully to see where the government is at, and whether or not they are going to honour their word," NDP caucus chair Jenny Kwan said Monday. Before the holiday break, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh threatened to pull out of the agreement if federal action isn't taken to improve health care, which the party sees as a national crisis. Kwan said pulling out of the agreement remains an option.
"We're going to have to wait and see how things unfold. I mean, our agreement is very clear to say what are the items that the government needs to deliver on," Kwan said. Cost-of-living policies the Liberals passed last fall, including dental-care subsidies for children under 12 in low-income households, one-time rental supplements for low-income renters and a temporary doubling of the GST tax rebate, had been NDP priorities.

Globe & Mail: Immigration to Canada hits record high in 2022

The federal government has said immigration is crucial for the economy, and that it accounts for as much as 90 per cent of labour force growth in Canada. But critics of the plan have raised questions about the effects of higher immigration targets on the country’s already-unaffordable urban housing markets. And it is unclear whether Ottawa’s plan will help make up for shortages of labour in low-paid fields such as accommodation, food services, retail and health care assistance.
NDP immigration and housing critic Jenny Kwan said the federal government has missed an opportunity to give temporary foreign workers and undocumented workers permanent resident status. This would give them access to taxpayer-funded health care and allow them to live and work anywhere in Canada, indefinitely. (Temporary foreign workers are typically restricted to one employer and not allowed to switch jobs.)
“The government must stop relying on vulnerable workers and give them the protection of permanent status and ensure their rights are respected,” Ms. Kwan said in an e-mailed statement.
The flood of new permanent residents is expected to bring new homebuyers and renters to communities across the country. That could increase activity in the residential real estate market, which has slowed since early last year, when borrowing costs jumped with a rise in interest rates.

New York Times: Do You Want to Buy a House in Canada? Not So Fast.

Jenny Kwan, a member of Parliament who represents Vancouver East and the housing critic for Canada’s opposition New Democratic Party, said the law is missing the real culprits in the housing crisis. “The government must target real estate investment trusts,” or companies that invest in real estate for profit, she said. “We need to curb the financialization of housing.”

MEDIA RELEASE: Liberals rejected an NDP proposal to get funds for people living with a disability

OTTAWA — On Wednesday, Liberals rejected an NDP proposal to consider an emergency relief fund to lift people living with a disability out of poverty while they wait for the Canada Disability Benefit.

MEDIA RELEASE: Canadians are racking up household debt while Liberals protect corporate profits

In response to a recent Statistics Canada report on household debt in Canada, NDP Finance Critic Daniel Blaikie issued the following statement

MEDIA RELEASE: Canadian renters can apply for an extra $500 to help them pay their rent thanks to New Democrats

OTTAWA — On Monday, eligible Canadian renters can apply for $500 through the Canada Housing Benefit (CHB) program to help them cover the cost of their rent thanks to New Democrats who pushed the government to provide this support in their Supply and Confidence Agreement.

According to a report released by Rentals.ca for November, the average rent in Canada climbed nearly 12 per cent year over year to almost $2000 per month.

Affordable Housing