The Housing Crisis: how did we get here?
How did we get here?
Earlier this year, 76.9% of people in the Leadnow community said they were worried about the state of housing in Canada. It’s easy to see why: with housing prices skyrocketing, finding an affordable place to live is becoming harder and harder.
The housing crisis can sometimes feel impossible to solve. But we’ve done it before. In the face of catapulting housing costs most Canadians couldn’t afford, the federal government launched a massive program in the 1970s to build and fund truly affordable housing.
From 1972 onward, led by the federal government, up to 20% of all housing built in Canada was public, non-profit, or co-operative owned. And it was a massive success – realtime housing costs in Toronto fell by 30% over the span of only 4 years between 1974-78.
But in 1993, the federal government cut all new spending on building affordable housing. Real estate investors, speculators, and banks took over, and we’ve never recovered.
Where do we go now?
At Leadnow, we believe that everyone deserves a good place to call home, that’s safe, affordable and meets their needs. But to turn the tide on housing and get federal action at the scale that is necessary it’s going to take all of us coming together.
The first step is to build people power for housing solutions that put people, not profit first.
What we are up against
Let’s not sugarcoat what we’re up against. Wealthy investors and corporate landlords have successfully misdirected the public conversation on the housing crisis, to focus on supply or targeting our newcomer neighbours, instead of putting the spotlight on the main culprits: corporate greed and government inaction. Real estate investors are profiting handsomely off the housing crisis. Why do we expect them to fix it?
While under the Trudeau Liberals, we’ve finally seen some investment in a federal housing strategy again – but politicians of all stripes are debating solutions that rely on subsidizing the private sector instead of providing housing.
No politician or party has yet to fully embrace the scale of federal government intervention for non-market and affordable housing that is necessary – because there isn’t a united, coordinated campaign at a federal level with enough power to get them to do it.
Next Steps
That’s exactly where Leadnow comes in. The Leadnow community is diverse in our experiences – but we are united by our shared vision. If you are concerned about the housing crisis for your friends, family or neighbours, or you’re up at night nervous about affording your rent – we need you.
The first step to take back housing from wealthy developers is pledging to take action for affordable housing, together.