About Us
Social Housing & Human Rights is a coalition of organizations and individuals advocating for more federal investment in social housing in Canada.
Supporting Members
Organizing Members
Social Housing as a Human Right: A Housing Rights Primer
This booklet introduces the current housing context in Canada. It compiles recent research on the history of social housing, offers a scan of existing housing initiatives, and analysis of the National Housing Strategy. It highlights Canada’s ongoing reliance on the private market for housing provision, and offers some solutions to the current housing crisis.
Call to Action: Backgrounder and FAQs
This document outlines our Call to Action to the Government of Canada, and addresses frequently asked questions about the specific ways we have framed our demands.
Our Coalition’s Beginnings
In 2022, the Manitoba Research Alliance, a Winnipeg based research and policy advocacy consortium was awarded a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Connections Grant for the Social Housing and Human Rights (SHHR) project.
The aim of the project was to work with social housing researchers and activists across Canada to consolidate existing research and develop a mobilization plan around the specific multi-government actions needed to expand social housing across Canada.
Our initial partners for the project included the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative, Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, Canadian Lived Experience Leadership Network, End Homelessness Winnipeg, Manitoba’s Right to Housing Coalition, National Right to Housing Network, Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network, and Vote Housing.
Participation in the SHHR project expanded in April 2023, when over 100 researchers and advocates representing all provinces and territories across Canada attended The Social Housing and Human Rights Conference at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. There was overwhelming agreement in the need for government action on social housing. Those in attendance agreed to collaborate in the development of a national call to action that could be used to mobilize social housing advocates across Canada to call on the government of Canada to invest in social housing.
In May 2023, the SHHR members reached a consensus on the call to action.
Thank you to our funders
