Canada is experiencing a serious housing and homelessness crisis. Too many people can’t find a safe, affordable place to live. Overall homelessness has doubled, and unsheltered homelessness has increased 300% since 2018, according to the latest national point-in-time count.
Governments are struggling to respond, working on the problem in their own ways without a way to ensure they’re rowing in the same direction. Housing policy is disconnected from homelessness, increasing the fragmentation.
The crisis is too big for any one government to tackle alone. To fix it, we need to get our governments working together to ensure people in every community have the housing, supports, and services they need to find a home and stay housed.
National Issue, Shared Responsibility
In Canada, all levels of government share responsibility for housing and homelessness. While the federal government provides leadership and long-term funding, provinces and territories control the systems that determine whether homes get built, and what kind: building codes, income supports, connected services like health care, and operating funding for supportive housing. 
Municipalities face the reality of the homelessness crisis every day, with limited tools and resources to respond. At the same time, they influence how much new housing gets built, like zoning, planning, and development charges.
Right now, one level of government increases funding while another pulls back. The federal government funds a supportive housing building without the province or territory being on board to provide the services residents will need.
The federal government holds the power to convene provinces and territories to fix this and a unique opportunity to do so.
Our Opportunity
Federal-provincial housing agreements under the National Housing Strategy are set to expire in 2027-28. Now is the time to renew and strengthen how governments work together on housing and homelessness.
That’s why the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness is advocating for a Canada Housing Accord. A Canada Housing Accord would formalize collaboration so that investments deliver the housing and homelessness outcomes Canadians and communities need. It must include a clear national homelessness strategy – something that was missing under the National Housing Strategy.
Developing a Canada Housing Accord
We’re calling on the federal government to work with provinces and territories to establish a Canada Housing Accord (CHA), to renew and replace the existing framework and sunsetting bilateral agreements. The CHA would set out shared principles, timelines, and targeted outcomes for both housing and homelessness in a multilateral agreement, similar to the approach used for the Housing Partnership Framework and early learning and childcare agreements.
Next, provinces and territories would work with the federal government to negotiate bilateral agreements and develop their own action plans that reflect local realities – including how they will support communities to reduce homelessness.
Guiding Principles
The foundation of the Canada Housing Accord multilateral agreement should be a set of guiding principles such as:
- Focus on preventing, reducing and ending homelessness
- Agreeing that housing and homelessness are shared responsibilities of all levels of government
- Prioritizing people experiencing the greatest housing need, while working on improving affordability across the housing system
- Progressive realization of the right to housing
- Sharing housing and homelessness data to improve decision-making
Shared Outcomes
From these principles, governments can develop a set of shared outcomes that can be measured as the Accord progresses and incorporated in bilateral agreements and action plans. Improving housing outcomes for Canadians – not just outputs like the amount of money spent or the number of units produced – is critical to developing the programs and policies needed to fix the housing crisis. The outcomes should come with timelines and must include homelessness reduction targets and ensuring the conditions people need for adequate housing, such as:
- Rent and mortgage affordability
- Condition of housing
- Size of home appropriate for the household
- Security of tenure for residents
- Availability of essential services
- Proximity to jobs, schools and community
- Cultural adequacy
- Equitable access to housing, including those from marginalized groups
Clear Roles and Responsibilities
Achieving these outcomes will require governments to map out a better way to work together, particularly when it comes to homelessness response. A Canada Housing Accord should clarify what each level of government will be responsible for and how they will collaborate to deliver for Canadians.
This could include better coordination on federal housing programs like Build Canada Homes to support the people in the greatest housing need; reducing barriers to new housing; and linking federal capital funding to provincial/territorial services for supportive housing so people don’t cycle back into homelessness.
Measuring Progress and Sharing Data
Finally, to keep everything on course, we’ll need national, high-quality data to coordinate homelessness response and identify what’s working and where systems are what’s not, to continuously improve. A Canada Housing Accord should establish national baselines and targets for each identified outcome, supported by a shared system to measure results.
Next Steps
As new housing and homelessness investments roll out, a Canada Housing Accord is the best way to make sure they lead to real outcomes: more affordable housing and fewer people experiencing homelessness.