When the federal government introduced the National Housing Strategy (NHS) in 2017, it established the Canada Housing Benefit, a portable benefit targeted at lower-income renters, intended to support their housing costs. However, since then, homelessness in Canada has nearly doubled and unsheltered homelessness has risen 300%.

With the NHS set to expire in 2027/28 and the federal government discussing the next strategy, the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness commissioned independent researchers at Blueprint to examine how the Canada Housing Benefit could be designed more effectively to prevent homelessness. CAEH is proposing a transformed Canada Housing Benefit could reduce active homelessness by more than 60% within two years of implementation.

The Current Canada Housing Benefit (CHB)

The current CHB is a portable housing benefit delivered by the federal government through bilateral agreements with each province/territory. It has provided meaningful support to low-income renters, but it is fundamentally limited as a homelessness prevention tool, as it does not consistently target those at greatest risk of homelessness; it is insufficient for the surging need in Canada; and delivers amounts that are too small to bridge the gap between what low-income renters earn and the cost of living. Variations by province/territory also mean that Canadians accessing the benefit in the same situation may receive different amounts, based on jurisdiction rather than need.

Our Proposal

CAEH proposes redesigning the Canada Housing Benefit as a portable, income-tested benefit anchored in the Homelessness Income Cut Off (HICO), a measure developed by researchers at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy that defines the minimum income an individual or family needs to keep their housing and avoid homelessness after cutting all non-essential spending and exhausting resources at their disposal.

Rather than subsidizing rent costs to reach a target rent-to-income ratio, the proposed benefit ensures that renter households living in deep poverty and most at risk of homelessness are able to pay their rent and retain sufficient residual income to remain stably housed, based on HICO amounts. Benefit amounts are calculated by comparing a household’s residual income with the applicable HICO threshold, then providing an amount to close some or all of that gap. Full details of HICO amounts, proposed targeted residual income, and benefit gap coverage are detailed in the full Blueprint report.

The benefit would be portable (tied to the individual or household, not the unit) for flexibility and to avoid triggering subsequent rent increases. As a federal-provincial cost-shared benefit, it would be embedded within a new Canada Housing Accord that establishes federal-provincial-territorial targets for reducing homelessness. Provinces and territories would commit to not claw back social assistance for recipients, ensuring federal investment reaches households directly.

Projected Impact

Independent modeling by Blueprint, using community level, by-name homelessness data from Edmonton, Toronto, and St. John’s, projects that this approach would:

• Reduce active homelessness by 61-63% within two years of implementation
• Reduce monthly entries into homelessness by up to 80% among eligible households
• Reach 769,533 households across Canada at risk of homelessness

 Read the full Blueprint report here