This document discusses strategies for affordable housing in austere times. It summarizes that: 1) Housing insecurity is deep and persistent in Canada despite partnerships between different levels of government and organizations to build homes. 2) Federal funding for housing and homelessness programs has been cut significantly in recent years at the same time that housing costs have risen faster than incomes. 3) Multiple sectors including all levels of government, the community sector, private sector, and social innovators must work together to develop new tools and solutions to address the ongoing affordable housing crisis.

1. Practical strategies
for austere times:
Effective
partnerships to
build homes in
York Region
Michael Shapcott
The Wellesley Institute
HSBP-YR, June 2012

2. Effective
partnerships:
Who, what, when?

3. We live in a
complex world...
...where everything
is connected to
everything else

4. Beware of
magic
bullets...
...and ‘one-
size-fits-all’
solutions

5. We need new tools to understand complex
systems, and the impact of interventions
Wellesley Urban
Health Model

6. Bad housing makes you sick!
Homelessness:
Increased morbidity
Increased premature morality
Contextual:
Individual / neighbourhood deprivation
networks / friends / crime
Biological / physical:
Chemicals, gases, pollutants
Socio-economic: Design (accidents) / crowding
Affordability / energy
Transportation / income / jobs
Mental health:
Alarming rates... especially
Clinical depression and anxiety
Control / meaning
Collective efficacy

7. Good housing good for health!
Physical and mental health:
Better health outcomes /
decreased health care utilization
Environment / physical infrastructure:
New housing, repairs, heating, noise,
indoor + outdoor environmental issues,
allergens, water + sanitation
Community safety:
Reduced recidivism among
people leaving incarceration
Affordability interventions:
Income-based housing subsidies

8. Researchers,
analysts,
evaluators:
Moving from
outputs to
outcomes

9. Four observations:
1. Housing insecurity deep / persistent
2. Costly to people, communities,
economy, government
3. Federal housing / homelessness
investments eroding
4. No comprehensive national plan

10. On any given night in
Canada, for every one
person sleeping in a
shelter, there are 23
more people living
with housing
vulnerability.
They are all at risk of
devastating health
outcomes.
- REACH3

11. Canada hasn’t forgotten how to build homes...
...we’re not building
right mix of homes

12. “After 20 years of continuous decline, both inequality and
poverty rates have increased rapidly in the past 10 years,
now reaching levels above the OECD average.”
OECD (2008), Growing Unequal? : Income Distribution and
Poverty in OECD Countries

14. Selected policy recommendations for OECD
countries from Divided We Stand
• Reforming tax and benefit policies is
the most direct instrument for increasing
redistributive effects. Large and
persistent losses in low-income groups
following recessions underline the
importance of government transfers and
well-conceived income-support policies.
• The growing share of income going to
top earners means that this group now
has a greater capacity to pay taxes. In
this context governments may re-
examine the redistributive role of
taxation to ensure that wealthier
individuals contribute their fair share of
the tax burden.

15. ‘Social spending in Canada relies more on
public services (education, housing,
health, etc.) than on cash transfers, such
as unemployment and family benefits.’
OECD, 2011

16. d pr ivate
uali ty an 95%
of
Ineq mar kets Cana
dians
hou sing each
home
s in p
live i
n
out or r owne rivate
rea sing rship
inc renta
l mar
kets
/

17. For renters, average market rents are
outpacing renter household incomes

18. Income, labour
market, social and
community
policies

19. When it comes
to housing...
...money does make
the world go around

20. Federal housing investments...
...as a percentage of GDP

21. (millions)
Looking ahead: Federal housing
investments will continue to shrink, and
number of subsidized households will fall

22. 2011 federal spending estimates
2010 2011 Change
Assisted $1.722b $1.628b 5% cut
housing
On-reserve $215m $156m 27% cut
Repair $674m $37m 94% cut
AHI $452m $16m 97% cut
Overall $3.131b $1.907b 39% cut
‘Scheduled termination’

23. Federal affordable housing initiative will ‘terminate’ in
2014 - along with federal homelessness program
(millions)

24. As federal housing investments are cut,
annual ‘net income’ at CMHC is growing
(millions)

27. Ontario housing spending declining
Municipal housing spending increasing

28. Recommendation 19-14: Ontario
Don Drummond
should negotiate with federal
government to commit to housing
framework for Canada that
includes adequate, stable, long-
term federal funding and
encourages housing partners and
stakeholders, including municipal
governments, to work with federal
government to secure this
commitment.
Municipal Infrastructure About 40 per cent of public
infrastructure in Ontario is owned by the province’s 444
municipalities. Assets include roads and bridges, water and
wastewater infrastructure, transit systems, affordable/social
housing, solid waste facilities, public buildings, Conservation
Authority infrastructure, and land... Municipalities are
responsible for maintaining their infrastructure... The
province also has an ongoing obligation to help ensure the
safety and sustainability of municipal infrastructure.

30. http://www.caeh.ca/

31. Federal and
provincial
governments

32. Canada’s dynamic
community sector

33. YWCA Elm Centre

34. Sprucecourt Apts 1914
s
m nto
lu i
s d
to me es
on or om
or sf h
T an d
r oo
t g

35. Canada’s dynamic
private sector

36. housing bonds
Tax-exempt
Social impact bonds
New expertise and
intermediaries
required

37. Social finance, social
innovation, new
intermediaries

39. http://www.inclusionaryhousing.ca/

41. http://www.rentalcoalition.ca/

42. Urban planning,
social planning

43. Putting it all together:
The exciting part!

44. www.wellesleyinstitute.com
Thank you!