Housing law: free legal information
This resource produced by Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) provides a list of free legal information about paying rent, eviction procedures and much more.
Financial Health & Wealth
You worry about your family's physical, mental and spiritual health. You take care of yourself and make sure you and your family are healthy, safe and happy. Many people do not realize that you also need to be financially healthy. Financial wellness is understanding and managing your own money. Money is a big way that others control and influence our lives. Sometimes we need to depend on others to give us money and tell us what to do with money. Opening a bank account, understanding where your money is coming from, and saving money will help you to become financially independent and financially healthy. This report from The Native Women's Association of Canada covers the importance of financial health and has sections on financial information covering bank accounts, insurance, budgeting, saving, credit cards, car loans, income taxes and housing.
Housing insecurity
Read more about homelessness, affordability, at risk-populations and human rights on the Government of Canada's website. Learn about: Housing and human rights: the Federal Housing Advocate's work on the right to adequate housing, unmet housing needs and systemic homelessness. Canada's Homelessness Strategy: funding to help urban, Indigenous, rural and remote communities address their local homelessness needs. Understanding Veteran homelessness: Information for organizations and individuals working to support the homeless, including homeless Veterans.
Women living in subsidized housing in Canada
Using data primarily from the 2021 Canadian Housing Survey, this study applies a gender lens to examine the characteristics of Canadians living in subsidized housing. It examines the experiences of renters in subsidized housing and their satisfaction with their dwelling and neighbourhood, drawing comparisons with their counterparts living in non-subsidized rental housing.
Annual report 2022
The Asset Funders Network engages philanthropy to advance equitable wealth building and economic mobility. For 18 years, AFN has provided a forum for grantmakers to connect, collaborate, and collectively invest in helping more people achieve economic security. This report reflects their work over the past year working across 7 issues areas:
The impact of COVID-19 on financial capability and asset building services.
The forced transition from in-person to online activities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on how families and communities buy groceries, acquire medical care, and utilize social services. This rapid shift has raised important questions about how to address access and equity. AFN and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Financial Security (CFS) conducted this study to better understand the transition to remote services among financial capability and asset building (FCAB) programs, which includes financial education, counseling, coaching, emergency assistance, benefits navigation, housing supports, workforce development, and other related services. The insights from this study can inform strategies for FCAB services going forward. This brief reviews recommendations for funders and organizations seeking to learn from the financial capability service delivery models employed in the COVID-19 pandemic, especially related to replication of findings that lead to more equitable delivery practices, improved accessibility of services, and greater financial improvements for clients. Six region-specific briefs complement the national findings - Indiana, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. This brief is generously supported by JPMorgan Chase & Co., MetLife Foundation, and Wells Fargo. If you missed the live webinar, watch the recording here.
Income support, inflation, and homelessness
A good deal of attention has been paid to the question of what these high rates of inflation in housing and food costs mean for Canadians. Much of the concern has focused on the implications for middle-income Canadians hoping to purchase a home, while squeezing their household budgets. But what do these rates of inflation mean for Canadians with very low income? For them, high rates of inflation in the price of food and shelter mean more than having to delay thoughts of homeownership. For them, the threats are considerably more serious.
Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing
The Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing (CISP) is a new national hub to link people and share practices that connect people to community-based supports and services that can help improve their health and wellbeing.
Social determinants and inequities in health for Black Canadians: a snapshot
The following snapshot aims to highlight how Anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination are key drivers of health inequalities faced by diverse Black Canadian communities. Evidence of institutional discrimination in key determinants of health is also presented, including education, income, and housing. Finally, national data is shared demonstrating inequalities in health outcomes and determinants of health. Readers are invited to reflect on how racism and discrimination may contribute to these inequalities.
2022 Canadian Retirement Survey
The key takeaways from the 2022 Canadian Retirement Survey are: Read the full presentation conducted for Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.
Urban, Rural, and Northern Indigenous Housing
This report examines Indigenous housing in urban, rural, and northern areas, an expression which is taken to refer to Indigenous housing in all areas of Canada other than on reserves. This report is intended to provide an analysis of unmet Indigenous housing need and homelessness in these areas, and of government spending to address those issues. The report ends with a range
of estimated costs for addressing housing need to various extents under various programs.
This report was prepared at the request of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA).
Housing insecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic
CFPB released their first analysis of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on housing in the United States. Actions taken by both the public and private sector have, so far, prevented many families from losing their homes during the height of the public health crisis. However, as legal protections expire in the months ahead, over 11 million families — nearly 10 percent of U.S. households — are at risk of eviction and foreclosure.
Homeless Shelter Flows in Calgary and the Potential Impact of COVID-19
Social distancing and self-isolation are two of the key responses asked of citizens during a pandemic. For people without a home, this advice is rather more difficult to follow. This article uses daily data describing the movements of 36,855 unique individuals who used emergency homeless shelters in Calgary over the period 1 January 2014–31 December 2019. The use of emergency shelters is characterized by large flows from and into the broader community and smaller flows between individual shelters. Between admissions of new people into the shelter system and multiple re-admissions of current clients, there were an average of 43,613 movements between the community and between shelters each month. The size of these flows provide a measure of the extent to which people reliant on homeless shelters are exposed to the risk of transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
One in five Canadians with mental health-related disabilities lives in core housing need
Canadians with mental health-related disabilities were more than twice as likely as those without disabilities to live in households considered to be in core housing need in 2017. Canadians with mental health-related disabilities were also more likely than those without disabilities to live alone, to rent their homes and to live in subsidized housing, according to the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD). The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has identified those living with pre-existing mental health-related disabilities as a particularly vulnerable population because of the impacts of isolation and disruptions to mental health-related services during the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent crowdsourcing survey by Statistics Canada found that almost three-quarters (73%) of participants with mental health-related disabilities stated that their mental health had worsened since the beginning of the pandemic. In addition, PHAC has indicated that those living with inadequate or unsuitable housing are also more vulnerable during the pandemic and are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19. This infographic presents pre-existing living situations and housing conditions among Canadians with mental health-related disabilities that may put them at greater risk of contracting COVID-19, as well as the emotional and psychosocial impacts of living through a pandemic.
Pandemic to Prosperity – January 21, 2021: One year after the first announcement of Covid on U.S. soil
The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) developed the Pandemic to Prosperity series. It builds on NCoC’s data infrastructure and advocacy network developed for its national Civic Health Index, with The New Orleans Index, which informed many public and private decisions and actions post-Katrina. This series is designed to enable a solid understanding of the damage to lives and livelihoods as the pandemic continues to unfold, as the United States enters the era of vaccines, and the nation grapples with new shocks and stressors such as disasters and civil unrest; it will also examine aspirational goals around strong and accountable government, functioning institutions from child care to internet access to local news availability, effective civic participation, and outcomes for people by race regarding employment, health, housing, and more. With each new report in the series, indicators will change as the recovery transitions. This report highlights mostly state-level metrics with breakdowns by race, gender, and age where available, relying on both public and private data sources.
Creating Communities Where We Live – A Good Practices Guide
Creating Communities Where We Live - A Good Practices Guide is a locally-driven community-based researched project conducted in Edmonton, Alberta, by e4c and the University of Alberta Community Service-Learning program. The project seeks to add to the knowledge and practice of community care around supporting people to achieve a safe, secure, and affordable housing experience. The 10 good practices in this guide describe structures, roles, and relationships which promote community and wellbeing for tenants who live in affordable housing. The practices are informed, in part, by research into tenant and staff experiences at affordable housing complexes run by four Edmonton housing providers.
Gender Results Framework: Data table on core housing need
Statistics Canada's Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics has released an enhanced data table on the topic of core housing need. These statistics will be used by the Gender Results Framework, a whole-of-government tool designed to track gender equality in Canada. Using data from the 2006 Census of Population, the 2016 Census of Population and the 2011 National Household Survey, the table shows the proportion of the population in core housing need by selected economic family characteristics. This table includes a breakdown by province and territory, age group as well as other demographic characteristics such as population groups designated as visible minorities and Indigenous identity.
Cities Reducing Poverty: 2020 Impact Report
The Vibrant Communities – Cities Reducing Poverty 2020 Impact Report is the Tamarack Institute's first attempt at capturing and communicating national trends in poverty reduction and the important ways in which member Cities Reducing Poverty collaboratives are contributing to those changes. This impact report is meant for poverty reduction organizers and advocates, and public decision-makers to get a sense for how collaborative, multi-sectoral local roundtables with comprehensive plans contribute to poverty reduction in their communities and beyond; and spotlights high-impact initiatives that are demonstrating promising results.
The Canadian Housing Survey, 2018: Core housing need of renter households living in social and affordable housing
This article provides a high level overview of those living in social and affordable housing by painting a portrait of them based on the results of the 2018 CHS. Socio-demographic and household characteristics are examined using housing indicators such as core housing need.
Wealth and Health Equity: Investing in Structural Change
Building on the Asset Funders Network’s the Health and Wealth Connection: Investment Opportunities Across the Life Course brief, this paper details: On September 29th, AFN hosted a webinar to release the paper with featured speakers: Dr. Annie Harper, Ph.D., Program for Recovery and Community Health, Yale School of Medicine
Joelle-Jude Fontaine, Sr. Program Officer, Human Services, The Kresge Foundation
Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chief of Race, Wealth, and Community, National Community Reinvestment Coalition
Questions and answers to legal topics in Ontario
The Community of Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) website contains answers to common questions pertaining to a number of legal topics, including: COVID-19, debt and consumer rights, and employment and work.
Canada’s Forgotten Poor? Putting Singles Living in Deep Poverty on the Policy Radar
This report presents the findings of extensive research about employable singles on social assistance undertaken by Toronto Employment and Social Services, in partnership with the Ontario Centre for Workforce Innovation. Drawing on data from 69,000 singles who were receiving social assistance in Toronto in 2016, and 51 interviews with randomly selected participants, the report highlights these individuals’ characteristics, their complex needs, and the barriers they face in moving off social assistance and into employment. Complementing the quantitative analysis, the interviews provide important insights into the daily realities of participants’ lives and their journeys on and off assistance.
A Feminist Economic Recovery Plan for Canada: Making the Economy Work for Everyone
This report offers an intersectional perspective on how Canada can recover from the COVID-19 crisis and weather difficult times in the future, while ensuring the needs of all people in Canada are considered in the formation of policy.
YWCA Canada and the University of Toronto’s Institute for Gender and the Economy (GATE) offer this joint assessment to highlight the important principles that all levels of government should consider as they develop and implement policies to spur post-pandemic recovery.
Hunger Lives Here: Risks and Challenges Faced by Food Bank Clients During COVID-19
This report provides quantitative and qualitative data about the experience of hunger and poverty in Toronto during COVID-19. Based on phone surveys with over 220 food bank clients in May and June 2020 and an analysis of food bank client intake data, the report demonstrates that COVID-19 has led to increased reliance on food banks. The rate of new clients accessing food banks has tripled since the pandemic began. Among new clients, 76% report that they began accessing food banks as a result of COVID-19 and the associated economic downturn.
Youth Reconnect Program Guide: An Early Intervention Approach to Preventing Youth Homelessness
Since 2017, the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and A Way Home Canada have been implementing and evaluating three program models that are situated across the continuum of prevention, in 10 communities and 12 sites in Ontario and Alberta. Among these is an early intervention called Youth Reconnect. This document describes the key elements of the YR program model, including program elements and objectives, case examples of YR in practice, and necessary conditions for implementation. It is intended for communities who are interested in pursuing similar early intervention strategies. The key to success, regardless of the approaches taken, lies in building and nurturing community partnerships with service providers, educators, policy professionals, and young people.
Expert Insights: Preventing Evictions in Communities of Color During COVID-19
COVID-19 is radically reshaping many aspects of people’s financial health in America, including their housing security. The economic fallout is disproportionately impacting communities of color due to systemic inequities related to race, housing, employment, and more. As the protections put in place at the start of the pandemic fade away, the United States are facing an eviction tsunami that will disparately displace Black and Latinx families. On August 25, AFN’s summer Expert Insights briefed attendees on rental risks and evictions related to COVID-19. Speakers were Solomon Greene with The Urban Institute and Dr. Christie Cade of NeighborWorks America.
Legal Resources Catalogue: Free legal information
This resource provides a list of free legal information resources produced by Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO).
Shelters for victims of abuse with ties to Indigenous communities or organizations in Canada, 2017/2018
There were 85 shelters for victims of abuse that had ties to First Nations, Métis or Inuit communities or organizations operating across Canada in 2017/2018. These Indigenous shelters, which are primarily mandated to serve victims of abuse, play an important role for victims leaving abusive situations by providing a safe environment and basic living needs, as well as different kinds of support and outreach services. Over a one-year period, there were more than 10,500 admissions to Indigenous shelters; the vast majority of these admissions were women (63.7%) and their accompanying children (36.1%). This article uses data from the Survey of Residential Facilities for Victims of Abuse (SRFVA). Valuable insight into shelter use in Canada and the challenges that shelters and victims of abuse were facing in 2017/2018 is presented.
A Pandemic Response and Recovery Toolkit for Homeless System Leaders in Canada
The Pandemic Response and Recovery Toolkit is intended to assist System Leaders plan and navigate the next steps in their community’s response and recovery as it pertains to people experiencing homelessness and people supported in housing programs. The Toolkit outlines phases and action steps – many that have yet to be mobilized - to help with planning, implementation and evaluation of pandemic response and recovery activities in communities. Furthermore, it contains a compendium of resources to help System Leaders along the way. This could be a time of doom and gloom. But there is a silver lining. With innovation and the courage to capitalize on emerging opportunities, the homelessness response and housing support system may emerge from this situation stronger and better than before the pandemic hit. It is possible that we can achieve Recovery for All.
Locked down, not locked out: An eviction prevention plan for Ontario
Ontario tenants who have fallen behind on their rent because of COVID-19 will need provincial help to stay housed when the current eviction ban is lifted. A new analysis calls for targeted rent relief, a gradual easing of the eviction ban, and a reintroduction of rent controls.
Advancing Health and Wealth Integration in the Earliest Years
Despite the well-documented connection between health and wealth, investing in this intersection is still a new approach for many grantmakers. With the goal of inspiring increased philanthropic attention, exploration, and replication, this new spotlight elevates responsive philanthropic strategies that support both health and wealth. This report focuses on the in utero-toddler stage of the life cycle (0-3 years). This age segment has some health-wealth integration activity, primarily through two-generation approaches. The goal is to inspire more philanthropic investment for this cohort by highlighting research and examples and offering recommendations.
Community Benefits of Supportive Housing
This report highlights mostly B.C.-based research and includes key information, facts, and statistics to answer common questions that neighbours, local government, and other stakeholders may have about supportive housing. The easy-to-read question and answer format also includes infographics to showcase the benefits of supportive housing in neighbourhoods across British Columbia and beyond.
State of homelessness in Canada 2016
Ending homelessness in Canada requires partnerships across public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. Preventative measures, and providing safe, appropriate, and affordable housing with supports for those experiencing homelessness is needed. This paper provides a series of joint recommendations – drafted by the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and the Canadian Alliance to end Homelessness – for the National Housing Strategy.
Enterprise Communities Plus: A network of financial capability services in low-income housing developments in New York City
In early 2018, Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) began a pilot program, Enterprise Community Plus (EC+), to provide financial capability services to residents in two neighborhoods in New York City. Enterprise is a nonprofit housing developer seeking to create opportunity for low- and moderate-income people through affordable housing in diverse, thriving communities. The pilot program seeks to develop a network of service providers dedicated to supporting the housing developments and introduce rent reporting for credit building and matched savings accounts to residents. Prosperity Now joined the implementation process in May 2018.
In this brief, we provide some initial information on the participants that currently are enrolled in the program and some lessons learned to guide other organizations in their efforts to provide financial capability services into housing programs.
Trading Equity for Liquidity: Bank Data on the Relationship Between Liquidity and Mortgage Default
For many, homeownership is a vital part of the American dream. Buying a home represents one of the largest lifetime expenditures for most homeowners, and the mortgage has generally become the financing instrument of choice. For many families, their mortgage will be their greatest debt and their mortgage payment will be their largest recurring monthly expense. In this report, we present a combination of new analysis and previous findings from the JPMorgan Chase Institute body of housing finance research to answer important questions about the role of liquidity, equity, income levels, and payment burden as determinants of mortgage default. Our analysis suggests that liquidity may have been a more important predictor of mortgage default than equity, income level, or payment burden.
Debt and assets among senior Canadian families
Using data from the Survey of Financial Security (SFS), this article looks at changes in debt, assets and net worth among senior Canadian families over the period from 1999 to 2016. It also examines changes in the debt-to income ratio and the debt to-asset ratio of senior families with debt. This study finds that the proportion of senior families with debt increased from 27% to 42% between 1999 and 2016.
2018 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada: Bold Ambitions for Child and Family Poverty Eradication
The 2018 national report card “Bold Ambitions for Child Poverty Eradication in Canada,” provides a current snapshot of child and family poverty and demonstrates the need for a costed implementation plan to eradicate child poverty in this generation. In advance of the 30th year of the all-party commitment to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000 and the federal election in 2019, our spotlight is on the central role of universal childcare in the eradication of child poverty. The lack of affordable, high quality childcare robs children of valuable learning environments and keeps parents, mainly women, out of the workforce, education and training. Without childcare, parents cannot lift themselves out of poverty and improve their living standards.