Thank you so much for the invitation.
My name is Marie-Josée Houle and as the first federal housing advocate, my role is to carry out concrete actions at the national level to ensure that legislation, policies and programs respect the human right to adequate housing.
The housing crisis has reached catastrophic proportions.
I am here as a human rights accountability mechanism for people in crisis. Canada enshrined the right to housing in the 2019 National Housing Strategy Act. The need for Canada to uphold its human rights obligations must be prioritized in this discussion.
The key reason for the housing crisis is that government housing policy has focused on incentives for the private sector, and we know from the past 30 years that the private sector does not create affordable housing. The activities that this committee is looking at, such as shareholder profits and passive income streams, are about treating housing as a financial commodity and an asset for profit—but not as a human right.
This is called financialization. It is a widespread practice that has negatively shaped our housing system at the expense of affordable and accessible housing supply. Our research on financialization estimates that 20% to 30% of Canada's rental housing supply is financialized. It demonstrates clearly the harm that it is causing to people in Canada.
We need to adopt a human rights approach that puts people first. Governments must invest in our housing system and use public funds for public good. The best way forward is investing in non-market housing. Non-market housing benefits society. It creates permanently affordable, accessible housing to meet the needs of a wide range of people. Disadvantaged groups that are spending a disproportionate amount of their income on housing will have more money for food, medicine, child care and other needs.
Investing in non-market housing also has an economic value and is the best use of taxpayers' dollars. It benefits everyone because it is not inflationary. When people are not paying so much for their housing, they're able to spend in other areas, so it will bolster the economic stability of other sectors. Investing in non-market housing will mean a more equitable and healthy housing system and allow governments to focus on other pressing portfolios.
Bridging the gap in Canada's affordable supply will require a long-term plan. Research we commissioned from housing expert Carolyn Whitzman estimates that Canada is currently short 4.4 million affordable homes for those in need. She uses a human rights-based approach to count people who are usually left out of supply estimates and focuses on renters. Meanwhile, CMHC's 2022 report on housing supply shortages based its estimate on housing demand, including demand from investors, and only looked at home ownership.
This is a complex problem that calls for multiple solutions.
I am happy to see that the fall economic statement emphasized non-market housing. I am thinking, for example, of the elimination of the GST for new housing cooperative construction projects.
More needs to be done. The national housing strategy's $82-billion suite of programs must change course to prioritize non-market housing. The federal government can create an acquisition fund for non-market and indigenous housing providers to buy, repair and operate existing buildings. The federal government must attach conditions to federal infrastructure projects and funding that mandate the creation of non-market housing in these new projects.
Other measures include pushing for strong rent stabilization measures across Canada, amending federal policies related to pension fund investments and taxation of real estate investment trusts, better data collection on financialization and better accountability when taxpayer funds are spent on incentives to the private sector.
All levels of government have a role to play. The federal government has a responsibility to lead the way.
Thank you so much. I look forward to your questions.