Good morning, Madam Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation to appear.
My name is Gary Gladstone, and I am chair of the Intentional Community Consortium, or ICC.
The ICC is a national coalition of more than 80 non-profit organizations working to expand affordable, accessible and supportive housing for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across Canada. I am also the lead of stakeholder relations for Reena, one of Ontario's largest developmental service organizations and a provider of supportive housing.
I'm here today because as Parliament considers Bill C-30 and the future of Canada's housing investments, there's one population that cannot be overlooked: people with developmental disabilities.
For many Canadians, the housing crisis means rising rents or difficulty entering the housing market. For people with developmental disabilities, the housing crisis often means something much more severe. It means remaining on wait-lists for years. It means living with aging parents who worry every day about what will happen when they can no longer provide care. It means remaining in hospitals, long-term care facilities, shelters or inappropriate settings simply because suitable housing does not exist.
In Ontario alone, more than 24,000 people are waiting for developmental services and housing supports. Research has also shown that more than 18% of people in homeless shelters have a diagnosed or undiagnosed developmental disability.
The federal government recognized this need under the national housing strategy—thank you—and after sustained advocacy by organizations, including the ICC and our members, a special carve-out in the original national housing strategy was made to create 2,400 housing units for this population.
Unfortunately, fewer than 900 units have been delivered. The challenge is not a lack of demand, it is not a lack of projects and it's certainly not a lack of willing non-profit partners. The challenge is that many community-based organizations lack the capacity and resources needed to navigate complex federal housing programs despite having land, expertise, community support and shovel-ready projects.
That is why we are recommending that people with developmental disabilities remain an explicit priority within the national housing strategy 2.0 and Build Canada Homes.
As in my written brief, we are also recommending a dedicated federal investment of at least $1 billion over five years to support the creation, preservation and acquisition of 3,000 additional affordable, accessible and supportive homes by 2031; support for portfolio-based delivery models through organizations such as ICC that can coordinate national pipelines of shovel-ready projects and build the capacity of smaller non-profit providers; predictable operating and housing benefit supports; and clear accessibility, care occupancy and B3 fire code standards to ensure that the housing being built is not only affordable but is also safe, appropriate and truly accessible for people with developmental disabilities.
These recommendations are not simply social policy; they are sound economic policy.
On Monday, I attended the launch of the public housing dividend study conducted by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis for the GTHA Community Housing Collaborative. The study found that every dollar invested in public housing generates $2.80 in combined economic and social benefits. It projects that strategic housing investments can create more than $100 billion in value, generate 15,000 jobs annually, house 86,000 additional people and prevent more than 524,000 hospital days.
These findings reinforce what our sector sees every day. Supportive housing reduces pressure on hospitals, emergency rooms, shelters, policing and long-term care. Supportive housing strengthens families, creates jobs and, most importantly, changes lives.
At Reena, we recently opened the Tansley residence, providing homes for individuals who have been living in hospitals because no appropriate housing existed. This fall, the Frankfort family Reena residence will open in Toronto, providing affordable, accessible housing for 168 tenants through a partnership involving all levels of government.
Across Canada, ICC members are developing similar projects using modular construction, mass timber construction, universal design principles and innovative partnership models. The projects exist, the expertise exists and the need certainly exists. What we need is a federal commitment that ensures people with developmental disabilities are not left behind as Canada builds its next generation of housing.
I respectfully ask the committee to support the recommendations outlined in my pre-budget submission and ensure that national housing strategy 2.0 includes dedicated funding and clear priorities for affordable, accessible and supportive housing for people with developmental disabilities.
Thank you.