Housing Rights are Human Rights: Assessing the Potential for Progressive Policy Shifts in Canada’s Housing System through the Right to Housing and the National Housing Strategy

Abstract

Utilizing critical and welfare state theory, this thesis is primarily centred on policy analysis regarding the design and implementation of the legislated right to housing in Canada alongside the National Housing Strategy. In examining Canada’s National Housing Strategy, right to housing legislation, and analysis and commentary around the 2019 Canadian federal budget, the thesis explores the potential for the right to housing to contribute to progressive policy shifts in Canada’s housing system at a time where the impacts of commodification and financialization continue to be prevalent. Additional literature related to Canada’s housing system and social welfare responses, and commentary on the right to housing in domestic and international contexts contributes to an assessment of the social and economic conditions that have led to the emergence of alternative housing policy, as well as the underlying principles and ideologies which guide and influence state intervention. Through this assessment, it is evident that while the legal space in which to claim the right to housing may be an important foundation to further highlight and challenge inequities in Canada’s housing system, the extent to which this results in tangible systemic change remains in question. Further topics are explored in the conclusion around the potential next steps and necessary considerations for implementation in the Canadian context. The research, analysis, and discussion present in this thesis is meant to contribute to a relevant and timely critical examination of the right to housing in Canada, centred within social work values, in order to better understand how to conceptualize and challenge inequities in Canada’s housing system.