The Challenge

Canada has had a past record of success in ensuring that its citizens have access to affordable housing. In the four decades following the end of the Second World War, federal, provincial and municipal governments funded many community-based housing projects that provided good homes to hundreds of thousands of women, men and children.

Beginning in the 1990s, however, federal, provincial and territorial governments gradually withdrew from funding the development of new housing projects. By the end of the decade, only British Columbia and Québec had small programs to help develop new affordable housing (Crowe, 1999).

Not surprisingly, the withdrawal of government support for new affordable housing corresponded with a drop in the overall rental vacancy rate and a rise in the number of homeless individuals and families relying on shelter accommodation. In Ontario, this situation was exacerbated by the sunset of provincial rent control legislation in 1998.

Action Taken

In response to growing concern about the steep increase in the number of homeless in Canada's largest city, a group of community health workers and anti-poverty activists launched the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC) in 1998. The following year, TDRC launched the 'one percent solution', an education and advocacy campaign aimed at getting federal, provincial and territorial developments to restore funding for affordable housing and adopt more equitable housing policies.

The one percent solution is based on a finding by David Hulchanski, a housing policy expert at the University of Toronto. In the mid-1990s, before the bulk of the funding cutbacks took place, federal, provincial and territorial governments spent 1% of their budgets on housing. The TDRC calls upon all levels of government to double their spending on affordable housing (i.e., from one to two percent of their total budgets).

The TDRC advocates the adoption of the following recommendations:

funding of $2 billion for affordable housing by the federal government, and another $ 2 billion by provinces and territories
restoring and reviewing national, provincial and territorial programs aimed at resolving the housing crisis and homelessness disaster
extending the federal homelessness strategy (Supporting Community Partnerships Initiative), with immediate funding for new and expanded shelters and services across the country

TDRC engaged in a range of educational and advocacy strategies to lobby for the adoption of these recommendations, including rallies, demonstrations, meetings with municipal, provincial and federal decision-makers and a nation-wide letter writing campaign. The advocacy efforts of the TDRC generated nation-wide media coverage, which proved to be invaluable in raising public awareness of the lack of affordable housing.