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AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS
Canada is the only industrialized nation without a national program for construction of affordable housing. No one should be homeless in a country with Canada's abundant resources. Yet, we are in the midst of an affordable housing crisis. Too many citizens are unable to afford decent housing or any housing at all-and their numbers have risen dramatically in recent years.
Since rent controls were repealed in 1995, rent on a two-bedroom apartment in Ottawa has increased 23 percent. (CCHRC)
Families with young children have been hit hard by the lack of affordable housing. Statistically, these families are more likely to have low incomes, which makes it difficult for them to afford adequate housing. Yet such housing is essential if children are to thrive. Creating a sufficient supply of affordable housing is essential if child poverty, and the social and health problems such poverty engenders, are to be eliminated.
Too many families pay unaffordable rents. In 1999, for example, over 40 percent of Ottawa renters spent more than one-third of income on rent; 20 percent spent more than half. (CCHRC)
By the generally accepted definition of affordability, housing should cost no more than 30 percent of annual income. Households that pay more don't just have a housing problem; they also find it hard to pay for food, health care and other basic necessities. Families shouldn't have to choose between paying the rent and feeding the kids.
Between 1989 and 1998, total real household income increased by only 2.7 percent; single-parent families saw real incomes decline. (CMHC)
In 2002, the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Ottawa was $914; monthly minimum-wage income was $1,030. A family with one full-time minimum-wage worker would have to spend approximately 89 percent of income on rent, leaving only $116 monthly for food and other basic necessities. Life is even harder for single mothers in receipt of Ontario Works; they are given a maximum of only $514 each month for housing.
For every homeless person on the street, up to four families are at risk of losing their homes. (CMHC)
Long-term or "chronically" homeless people - the individuals we see on our streets - represent less than 20 percent of the homeless population. The rest are families and individuals who, often through no fault of their own, find themselves without a place to live.
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