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May 2002
Putting
Promises into Action:
A Report on a Decade of Child and Family Poverty in Canada
By Campaign 2000
For the UN Special Session on Children, May 2002
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A NATIONAL HOUSING STRATEGY (page 8)
Stable, affordable housing in a child-friendly neighbourhood is essential
for healthy child development. Yet, low vacancy rates, rapidly rising
rental costs, and reduced social assistance rates have made decent housing
unattainable for many lower-income families.
Governments, who once made a key contribution to housing supply, vacated
the market and private developers have not filled the gap. Production fell
from more than 20,000 units annually in the 1980s to an average of 4,450
units by 1994. Rental vacancy rates in major cities now average 1.6%, far
below the 3 % that is considered a healthy rental market.
In 1993 the federal government froze funding for social housing. By 1996,
it had transferred responsibility for its existing housing stock to the
provinces and territories. Most provincial governments withdrew from
building new housing and some downloaded their new responsibility to local
governments with no additional resources.
Ottawa has since taken a step back into affordable housing, committing
$680 million over four years in 2001. While the provinces and territories
have signed a framework agreement with the federal government for the new
initiative, the majority have yet to contribute their own funding to make
the agreement work. Without cost-sharing by the provinces and territories
the effectiveness of the program will be severely reduced. Tackling the
housing crisis requires bolder steps. Pent up demand necessitates an
aggressive program that will create 20,000-30,000 units annually over the
next 10 years and rehabilitate 10,000 affordable units per year. This
obligates Ottawa to step up its current $170 million allocation to $1
billion annually over the next five years.
"Adequate housing fosters family integration, contributes to
social equity and strengthens the feeling of belonging, security and human
solidarity, which are essential to the well-being of children.
Accordingly, we will attach a high priority to overcoming the housing
shortage and other infrastructure needs."
-- Plan of Action for "A World Fit for Children", signed by
the Canadian government and other heads of state in May 2002.
The full report is available at:
http://www.campaign2000.ca/rc/unsscMAY02/MAY02statusreport.pdf
UN Special Session on Children, at
http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/
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