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Leadnow Housing Campaign: Policy Input Process Thumbnail

Leadnow Housing Campaign: Policy Input Process

As part of developping Leadnow’s housing campaign, we have identified a 3 step plan to win the bold housing solutions we need:
 

  • Create a shared vision for housing solutions through our in-person community conversations and housing policy survey
  • Build people-power behind our platform, which will involve engaging more people who are concerned about the housing crisis
  • Take our platform to politicians in our thousands, and do what Leadnow does best – use people-power to build public pressure through petitions, emails, phone calls and engaging our neighbours to fight for the solutions we need.

With an issue as big as the housing crisis, it’s likely many of these solutions will have to happen at once!

The input gathered from the survey and in person community conversations will go back into Leadnow’s housing strategy and help shape our community priorities for what we bring to politicians.

Examples of Housing Policies:

Stronger renters rights. Earlier this year, the federal government proposed a Renters' Bill of Rights, to make legal protections for renters everywhere in Canada. We could fight for the following enforceable protections: evictions protections, including preventing renovictions, the right to stay in your existing appartment, the right to timely repairs and maintenance, money for legal support and raising awareness so that renters know their rights  
More for-profit housing from private developers/landlords. Everyone agrees that millions more homes are needed to address the housing crisis. The most common approach by governments has been to incentivize private developers to increase supply to make housing more affordable. Under this policy, developers can still charge whatever they want for units. Some ways this could work: reducing bylaw barriers to for-profit housing, tax cuts to incentivize new for-profit housing

 

More co-op and non-market housing, built and/or funded by the federal government. The federal government used to be a big player in building housing up until the 1970s, but we've seen a huge decrease in funding for affordable and non-market housing since then. Some ways this could work: Federal government establishes a Crown corporation to build new affordable housing or purchase buildings that are for sale, and makes or keeps them affordable. Funding non-market and co-op housing - where rent is meant to cover bare costs, not generate profit for an individual or a corporation. These solutions would create new housing at specified affordable rents - not the market rate

 

Fewer homes are owned by wealthy investors. A big reason why we are in this mess is because of the 'financialization' of housing - a term for how housing has become a vehicle for investment and profit (as opposed to a social good and a fundamental right). The federal government could restrict financialization through taxes and regulation.

 

Diverse housing in all neighbourhoods. Most cities have by-laws that prevent housing that is dense (and therefore more accessible and sustainable) in at least some neighbourhoods. Addressing this issue could look like: The federal government requires bylaw changes from cities in exchange for funding, forcing municipal governments to allow more dense types of housing everywhere, instead of prioritizing single-family housing only in certain neighbourhoods. Regulations that ensure that new housing is accessible and climate-safe.