An Historical Analysis of Canada's National Homelessness Programs

Are we making progress on realizing the right to housing?

Authors

  • Dr. Mary Anne Martin Research for Social Change Lab, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada, 0000-0001-8559-7341
  • Dr. Naomi Nichols Department of Sociology, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada, 0000-0001-6637-8186;
  • Mx Samantha Blondeau Interdisciplinary Social Research, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada, 0009-0002-4401-0561
  • Anika Rosen Department of Sociology, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada

Keywords:

homelessness, housing policy, affordable housing, right to housing, federal homelessness policy

Abstract

Canada committed to the right to housing through the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1976 and subsequently through the National Housing Strategy Act in 2019. However, an 88% increase in unsheltered homelessness between 2018-2022 suggests that Canada is failing to realize the progressive right to housing via federal policy and programming alone. In this article, we review Canada’s successive national homelessness initiatives—especially the Homelessness Partnership Strategy and Reaching Home and their central interventions, Housing First and Coordinated Access. Our aim is to understand why current federal policy and programmatic infrastructure have not advanced the right to housing. To the existing body of scholarship, our work offers an analysis of Canada's national homelessness policy history, providing a critical assessment of the shift to data-driven governance as this move intersects with the adoption of legislative commitments to the progressive realization of the right to housing.

Author Biographies

Dr. Mary Anne Martin, Research for Social Change Lab, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada, 0000-0001-8559-7341

Mary Anne Martin is a Research Associate with the Research for Social Change Lab at Trent University.  

Dr. Naomi Nichols, Department of Sociology, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada, 0000-0001-6637-8186;

Naomi Nichols is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Canada Research Chair in Community-Partnered Social Justice at Trent University. She is also the founder and Director of the Research for Social Change Lab.

Mx Samantha Blondeau, Interdisciplinary Social Research, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada, 0009-0002-4401-0561

Samantha Blondeau is a Senior Research Assistant at the Research for Social Change Lab at Trent University. 

Anika Rosen, Department of Sociology, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada

Anika Rosen is a Research Assistant at the Research for Social Change Lab at Trent University. 

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Published

2025-12-30

How to Cite

Martin, M. A., Nichols, N., Blondeau, S., & Rosen, A. (2025). An Historical Analysis of Canada’s National Homelessness Programs: Are we making progress on realizing the right to housing?. Canadian Review of Social Policy Revue Canadienne De Politique Sociale, 83. Retrieved from https://crsp.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/crsp/article/view/40419

Issue

Vol. 83 (2025)

Section

Articles

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