Affordable Housing

You don’t want to miss Keys to Affordable Housing: A Hamilton-Burlington Tenants’ Forum. The proportion of renters is rising, as are rents and evictions. We’ll hear of the challenges and proposed solutions from local tenants, from Toronto tenant organizer Sharlene Henry (born in Hamilton), and from housing policy expert Dr. Carolyn Whitzman (a McMaster grad), … Read more

Fourteen local artists have created a depiction of what life in a homeless encampment is like, an “immersive art experience” called We’re All Neighbours Here that will be presented in Powell Park (53 Birch Avenue) tonight (October 16), Friday and Saturday, 7-9 p.m. plus Saturday 3-5 p.m.  The artists have either experienced homelessness or have … Read more

A good way to grasp how much landlords have increased Hamilton rents recently is provided by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ “rental wage.” It’s the hourly wage you’d need to pay rent if you could find a 40-hour week, 52 weeks a year, and spending no more than 30 per cent of one’s income on housing—that … Read more

When Maclean’s magazine did a cover story a year ago on Toronto’s growing tenant movement, it focused its article on Sharlene Henry, a longtime tenant in a high-rise apartment building where she is leading a rent strike. Henry will bring her expertise to our November 15th event, Keys to Affordable Living: A Hamilton Tenant Forum, … Read more

Two Simon Fraser professors do a pretty good job of briefly summarizing the main causes of our current housing affordability crisis: https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-canadas-housing-crisis-experts-break-down-the-different-factors-at-play-239050 What they leave out is the impact of provincial government decisions. Since 1998 in Ontario, there are no limits on how much landlords can raise rents on rent-controlled units when a tenant moves … Read more