Homes for Women / Toits pour elles a compilation of Recommendations to address women’s homelessness in Canada from Research Reports Available in electronic format on homesforwomen ca “News and Events” Table of Contents

2. Housing Access & Affordability

Improve access to affordable housing

The ECOSOC Committee recommends that the State party ensure that low-income women and women trying to leave abusive relationships can access housing options and appropriate support services in keeping with the right to adequate standard of living. [UN-ECOSOC]

All levels of government must act quickly to increase the supply of subsidized housing. [Better Off in a Shelter?...]

…offer more subsidized housing in neighbourhoods that are safe for women and children and close to amenities. [Better Off in a Shelter?...]

A shelter allowance must be provided to women and indexed to inflation and changes in the private rental market. .[You Just Blink...]

Tax expenditures such as the capital gains tax exemption for primary residence available to homeowners should be matched by a shelter allowance for low income renters so that federal program and tax expenditures are fairer to women. [Barriers]

…Policies that limit rent allocations in financial assistance programs to subsidized housing rates for women who have been evicted from subsidized housing units and are now required to pay market rent must end to prevent permanent homelessness. Likewise, policies that immediately cap rent at “single” rates for women in relationship transition must be changed so that their actual costs are covered to prevent them from becoming homeless and their children apprehended due to inadequate housing. [You Just Blink...]

[Canada]…should also consider providing subsidies including housing allowances or access to other cost-effective ways in order for low-income households to meet their housing needs. [UN-ECOSOC]

Rent supplements are a key component in successful housing strategies. Portable rent supplements that are not tied to a particular location and do not require landlords to designate particular rent supplement units would help address the critical need for housing. A rent supplement program would also decrease the power landlords have over tenants and could prevent evictions due to tenant complaints. The program has the advantage of being able to prioritize those in greatest need and respond quickly to women in crisis. [You Just Blink...]

A portable shelter subsidy should be allocated as a direct cash transfer or tax credit based on established eligibility criteria to all qualified households. This would remove the administration and allocation of subsidy from the housing provider and eliminate the discriminatory consequences of lengthy waiting lists and other restrictions in social housing. Eligibility for subsidy would be determined by need rather than by whether women get access to social housing units. [Barriers]

Housing policies that address historic debt, especially if it was incurred as a result of damages perpetrated by violent partners, need to be established so women are not thrust into permanent homelessness because of indebtedness to subsidized housing providers, who are often the only option in small, northern communities. An amnesty, a waiver or a “forgiveness” of debt process similar to that offered within a corporate context, particularly in instances where housing providers failed to actively pursue debt collection over a 5-year period, would offer an immediate, short-term solution for many homeless women in the North. For women re-qualifying for subsidized housing, a repayment plan for historic debt would involve low risk for the housing authority. Such a plan should involve partial forgiveness of the debt and be administered in a way that makes it possible for women to repay without undue financial hardship. [You Just Blink...]]

…Many current government policies contribute to barriers to these services by creating programs that are inflexible and have little tolerance (e.g. not providing childcare and transportation allowances for up to six months after a client begins to receive social assistance, providing accommodation allowances that are lower than market rates or having no systematic approach to allocating affordable housing to homeless women). Programs should be more flexible in supporting women in their efforts to get and maintain adequate shelter and to access services that will improve their likelihood of overcoming their homelessness. [You Just Blink...]

As far as barriers to accessing low-income or second-stage housing are concerned, the use of a housing registry is recommended, including a database with listings of affordable accommodations, information and links to resources and services and a liaise between tenants and landlords. [You Just Blink...]

The federal government and the provinces should develop methods of collecting complete information about the demographic and income characteristics of households securing access to assisted housing and that allocation of assisted housing be revised in order to ensure equitable representation of young women, larger families, newcomers and other groups at risk of homelessness. [Barriers]

While programs designed to assist homeowners with repairs would be valuable programs for low-income women homeowners, these programs need to be linked with major initiatives to provide access to home ownership for single mothers and low-income women. [Barriers]

CMHC’s restrictions on mortgage insurance should be removed and regulation of banks should ensure that women and low-income households are provided with alternative ways of demonstrating credit worthiness. [Barriers]

Banks should be required to provide detailed information about the income and household characteristics of those provided with mortgages, and be required to develop special programs to provide mortgages to low-income households. [Barriers]

Programs should be initiated to provide protection to low-income home buyers from interest rate fluctuations. [Barriers]