Adequate housing is a fundamental human right that is recognized in international law, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Canada is a party. Furthermore in 2019, Canada signed in law legislation recognizing the right to housing. Yet many people in Canada live in homes that are inadequate or unaffordable, and many others are chronically homeless. In Toronto there are over 100,000 people on the waiting list for affordable housing.

In Regent Park, despite a massive redevelopment and doubling of the resident population, no additional public housing units will be built. Is the notion of, "housing as a human right" just a symbolic one? In this new Regent Park TV series we will bring together academics, activists, researchers, residents and people with lived experiences to discuss the issue. In this very first episode of the series we talk to researcher and educator, Emily Paradis to set the framework for the discussions to follow.

According to Emily Paridis, the key aspects to consider when discussing housing in Canada, are primarily that housing is viewed as a commodity, a private good, and private possession. And home ownership tends to be valued over rental - a majority of Canadians are in fact homeowners. And secondly, the reluctance of the courts to recognize social and economic rights as something more than their symbolic representation in various conventions and constitutions, which has created an environment that pits homeownership as a “private good” against homeownership as a “social good.” Emily Paridis argues that the right to housing needs to be reinterpreted in the same vein as the notion that in Canada we have a universal education system and universal health system, a socialized housing strategy would be tailored to fit the needs of everyone that needs it, and not just those that can pay for it.

The implementation of Housing as a Human Right, in ways that meet the needs of all Canadians, will require that all levels of government assume more responsibility when deploying housing strategies. At the municipal level in Toronto, these considerations are configured in the Housing TO 2020-2030 Action Plan.  

By: Dimitrije Martinovic - journalist with Regent Park Focus