Julianna Beckett

A University of British Columbia think tank has put forward a four-part set of solutions to Canada’s crisis of housing affordability and tenants’ risk of eviction. Strong rent control is a key plank. The recommendations from the Balanced Supply of Housing group would remove almost all exemptions that allow landlords to get around controls on … Read more

And big increases in food bank use show we’re failing at both housing and food security Nearly three in four (71.8%) food bank clients rent in the private market, meaning that rising rents and worsening rental affordability have become significant drivers of food bank demand, the just-released annual report on food bank use across Canada … Read more

Canadian point-in-time counts show that, on average, 26 per cent of people experiencing homelessness are over 50, double the percentage in 2009. A University of Toronto analysis reported that 32 per cent of people using shelters are now over 50. Given how much homelessness ages people, anyone who is experiencing homelessness and over 50 is … Read more

A very insightful article from a research partnership based in the University of Toronto argues that joint federal and Ontario government tax breaks and development charge reductions are a gift to the kinds of investors who created much of our crisis of unaffordable housing. Through measures announced this spring, over $5 billion in private tax … Read more