Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Marie-Josée Houle. As the first federal housing advocate, my mandate is to take systemic action to ensure that legislation, policies and programs respect people's right to adequate housing. My presence here also falls within a human rights accountability mechanism.

Thank you for inviting me to comment on Bill C‑59. On the subject of the housing-related measures announced in Budget 2023 and the fall economic statement, I will address three elements: first, the government must do more to meet its human rights responsibilities; second, public funds must be for the public good; and third, the government must prioritize non-market housing.

First, the government must do more to meet its human rights responsibilities. Canada recognized the human right to housing in the 2019 National Housing Strategy Act, but housing as a human right was missing from budget 2023, along with a serious lack of tangible resources to uphold it.

Housing as a human right is not recognized in Bill C-59 either. It's absent in part 5 of the bill, related to the department of housing, infrastructure and communities act and the duties of the Minister of Housing. The minister must be responsible for upholding the human right to housing as it is set out in the National Housing Strategy Act. Recognizing housing as a human right means prioritizing outcomes for disadvantaged groups, such as people who are low-income, racialized, veterans, indigenous, or experiencing homelessness, for example.

Budget 2023 did not improve the $82-billion national housing strategy, despite the Auditor General’s finding that it did not decrease chronic homelessness, and the federal government must redesign the strategy so that it results in measurable, evidence-based and human rights-compliant progress.

Second, public funds—precious funds—spent on housing must be for the public good. The 2023 fall economic statement included a GST rebate for purpose-built rental construction. Also in Bill C-59, there is a preamble in part 5, division 11, that says the government will use innovative financial tools to attract investment from the private sector and institutional investors in public infrastructure projects. I want to caution that these measures alone will not create affordable housing. Our research estimates that Canada is short 4.4 million affordable homes, and using public funds to create homebuilding incentives for the private market with no strings attached does not work.

The companies do not use those incentives for the benefit of the public and the housing units are not affordable beyond the first tenant or buyer.

That does not mean that there is no role for the private market. However, all investments of public funds must be for the public good. New housing built using public funds must be affordable, accessible and adequate, permanently.

Investing in non-market housing is the way forward. That is why the federal government must attach safeguards to public money spent on the private sector and attach conditions to federal infrastructure funding to require non-market housing in new housing projects.

Finally, the government must prioritize non-market housing. The 2023 fall economic statement made welcome announcements on non-market housing. It included $309.3 million in new funding for the co-operative development program; $1 billion, with $370 million in new spending, for the affordable housing fund for non-market and public housing providers to build new homes; and it extended the removal of the GST to the development of new co-op rentals, which is a measure that would be implemented by this bill.

However, there's still more to do. Non-market housing is the best investment of taxpayers' dollars. It creates permanently affordable, accessible housing for a wide range of people. Disadvantaged groups will have more money to spend on food and medicine. It has economic value. It benefits everyone because it is non-inflationary, and if you think about it, when people are paying less for their housing, they will have more money to spend on other things, which does bolster economic stability.

Canada needs a short-term plan to double our non-market housing stock, from the current 3.5%, to 8% of our supply, and we need a long-term plan to bring that number up to 20%.

Here's how else the government can prioritize non-market housing that is permanently affordable and accessible. We need to revise the national housing strategy to prioritize non-market housing; to commit long-term funding for the non-market sector, including the rental assistance program for federal co-ops, non-profits and indigenous housing providers, as currently, this program will be expiring in 2028; and to invest in growing the non-market sector’s capacity, including leveraging their assets into capital for development.

The federal government must make funding available to address the housing and homelessness crisis. All levels of government have a role to play. The federal government must pave the way.

Thank you. It will be my pleasure to answer your questions.

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