IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsoctx/v11y2021i2p53-d567494.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is the Right to Housing Being Realized in Canada? Learning from the Experiences of Tenants in Affordable Housing Units in a Large Canadian City

Author

Listed:
  • Kaylee Ramage

    (Community Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cumming School of Medicine, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada)

  • Meaghan Bell

    (Calgary Housing Company, Calgary, AB T2G 2M1, Canada)

  • Lisa Zaretsky

    (Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada)

  • Laura Lee

    (Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada)

  • Katrina Milaney

    (Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada)

Abstract

Background: Housing is a critical determinant of health and a basic human right. Historically, Canada’s housing policies have not been grounded in a human rights-based approach. In the 1990s, a policy shift prioritized efficiency in government spending and deficit reductions over the provision of many social programs including affordable housing. With various levels of government now acknowledging and recognizing the need for more affordable housing, it is important to understand tenant experiences, perspectives, and needs to ensure policies and practices are supporting individuals appropriately. Methods: In total, 161 individuals participated in this study by completing online or in-person questionnaires. Results: Exploratory analysis of results revealed that although there were some positive benefits to affordable housing, many tenants continued to struggle financially, physically, mentally, and emotionally without adequate supports in place. Conclusions: These findings highlight the need for affordable housing to be part of a system of care that provides supports along a continuum. The results further reiterate that placing a person or family in affordable housing does not guarantee that their lives have improved. Without robust affordable housing models that prioritize the empowerment of individuals and families, housing policies may fail to fulfil the right to safe and affordable housing for Canadians, especially when considering historically marginalized populations.

Suggested Citation

  • Kaylee Ramage & Meaghan Bell & Lisa Zaretsky & Laura Lee & Katrina Milaney, 2021. "Is the Right to Housing Being Realized in Canada? Learning from the Experiences of Tenants in Affordable Housing Units in a Large Canadian City," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-9, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:11:y:2021:i:2:p:53-:d:567494
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/11/2/53/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/11/2/53/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Krieger, J. & Higgins, D.L., 2002. "Housing and health: Time again for public health action," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(5), pages 758-768.
    2. Hwang, S.W. & Chambers, C. & Chiu, S. & Katic, M. & Kiss, A. & Redelmeier, D.A. & Levinson, W., 2013. "A comprehensive assessment of health care utilization among homeless adults under a system of universal health insurance," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(S2), pages 294-301.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shirmin Bintay Kader & Md Sabbir Ahmed & Kristen Desjarlais-deKlerk & Xavier Leloup & Laurence Simard & Catherine Leviten-Reid & Nazeem Muhajarine, 2024. "Rental Housing Type and Self-Reported General Health and Mental Health Status: Evidence from the Canadian Housing Survey 2018–2019," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(9), pages 1-19, September.
    2. Julia Jansen-van Vuuren & Hibo Rijal & Nicole Bobbette & Rosemary Lysaght & Terry Krupa & Daniella Aguilar, 2024. "Exploring the Connection between Social Housing and Employment: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(9), pages 1-28, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Judith Schröder & Susanne Moebus & Julita Skodra, 2022. "Selected Research Issues of Urban Public Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-28, May.
    2. Juan Pablo Díaz-Sánchez & Moisés Obaco & Javier Romaní, 2022. "Measuring Overcrowding in Households with Children: Official vs. Actual Thresholds in the Ecuadorian Case," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(2), pages 383-398, April.
    3. Völker, Sebastian & Kistemann, Thomas, 2013. "Reprint of: “I'm always entirely happy when I'm here!” Urban blue enhancing human health and well-being in Cologne and Düsseldorf, Germany," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 141-152.
    4. Stefan Angel & Benjamin Bittschi, 2019. "Housing and Health," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(3), pages 495-513, September.
    5. Quinonez, Pablo, 2022. "Social spending and income inequality in Latin America. A panel data approach," MPRA Paper 113538, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Yang Xiao & Siyu Miao & Chinmoy Sarkar & Huizhi Geng & Yi Lu, 2018. "Exploring the Impacts of Housing Condition on Migrants’ Mental Health in Nanxiang, Shanghai: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-14, January.
    7. Justyna Rój & Maciej Jankowiak, 2021. "Socioeconomic Determinants of Health and Their Unequal Distribution in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-20, October.
    8. Ismail, Muhammad & Warsame, Abukar & Wilhelmsson, Mats, 2021. "An exploratory analysis of housing and the distribution of COVID-19 in Sweden," Working Paper Series 21/5, Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management & Banking and Finance.
    9. Katharine Robb & Ashley Marcoux & Jorrit de Jong, 2021. "Further Inspection: Integrating Housing Code Enforcement and Social Services to Improve Community Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-13, November.
    10. Lan-Ping Lin & Li-Yun Wang & Tai-Wen Wang & Yun-Cheng Chen & Jin-Ding Lin, 2021. "Factors Associated with Free Hospital Outpatient Service Use among Middle-Aged and Older Urban Homeless Adults in Taipei," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-12, May.
    11. Berger, Tania & Shankavaram, Hiranmayi & Thiagarajan, Janani, 2023. "Exploring impacts of resettlement and upgrading on the urban poor's daily lives in a second tier city in India," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 32(C).
    12. Michele Di Maio & Valerio Leone Sciabolazza, 2021. "Conflict exposure and health: Evidence from the Gaza Strip," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(9), pages 2287-2295, September.
    13. Aizawa, Toshiaki & Helble, Matthias, 2015. "Health and Home Ownership: Findings for the Case of Japan," ADBI Working Papers 525, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    14. Phuong Thu Nguyen & Preety Srivastava & Longfeng Ye & Jonathan Boymal, 2022. "Housing and occupant health: Findings from Vietnam," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 1297-1321, December.
    15. Ann Mitchell and Jimena Macció, 2018. "Evaluating the Effects of Housing Interventions on Multidimensional Poverty: The Case of TECHO-Argentina," OPHI Working Papers ophiwp120.pdf, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    16. Mehra, Renee & Boyd, Lisa M. & Ickovics, Jeannette R., 2017. "Racial residential segregation and adverse birth outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 237-250.
    17. Lazarus, L. & Chettiar, J. & Deering, K. & Nabess, R. & Shannon, K., 2011. "Risky health environments: Women sex workers’ struggles to find safe, secure and non-exploitative housing in Canada’s poorest postal code," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(11), pages 1600-1607.
    18. Khaufelo Raymond Lekobane, 2022. "Leaving No One Behind: An Individual-Level Approach to Measuring Multidimensional Poverty in Botswana," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 179-208, July.
    19. Lorenzo Capasso & Daniela D’Alessandro, 2021. "Housing and Health: Here We Go Again," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-9, November.
    20. Kristina Mjörnell & Dennis Johansson & Hans Bagge, 2019. "The Effect of High Occupancy Density on IAQ, Moisture Conditions and Energy Use in Apartments," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-11, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:11:y:2021:i:2:p:53-:d:567494. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.