Office of the Federal Housing Advocate

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Stay informed, stay connected! Our newsletter is your go-to source for updates, announcements, activities, and events from the Office of the Federal Housing Advocate. Sign up today for news delivered right to your inbox! 📩 bit.ly/4m7dHuj

It was encouraging to hear the discussions on system change, preventing #homelessness, and embracing person-centered responses. –MJH
#RightToHousing #HousingForAll

Photo of Marie-Josée Houle and Darren Graham.

Always good to connect with community leaders like Darren Graham from Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa. We attended today’s University of Ottawa session focused on transformational change for #homeless shelters.

#112 | Left Out in the Cold – Episode 3: Housing Available But Not Accessible | Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice In the third episode of this series, host Sarah Rowe is joined by Marie-Josée Houle, Canada's first Federal Housing Advocate, and Stephanie Chipeur, who holds the Azrieli Accelerator Professorship in ...

🔹 The importance of building accessible housing now, with the @ciaj-icaj.bsky.social podcast and co-guest Stephanie Chipeur: ciaj-icaj.ca/en/podcasts/...

A podcast microphone sits on top of an office desk with a laptop and a blue mug. The text on the left reads: “Looking for a new podcast to enjoy?”.

Looking for a new #podcast to enjoy? Listen in to these two great episodes featuring Marie-Josée Houle, the Federal Housing Advocate 🎙️:
🔹 Advancing the right to housing in Canada with the On The Way Home podcast: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_0A...

Struggles, Resilience, Barriers, and the Urgent Need for Action | Homeless Hub The Federal Housing Advocate travelled across Southern Ontario to consider responses to homeless encampments from a rights-based perspective.

To answer this question, the Federal Housing Advocate visited Southern #Ontario to hear directly from the people affected and made a series of recommendations for all levels of government.

Read more: homelesshub.ca/blog/2025/st...

A camp encampment in a park. Text on the left reads: “New blog post from the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness”.

New blog post from the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness:

What are the impacts of federal encampments funding on people experiencing #homelessness and their human rights?

What We Heard About Federal, Provincial, and Municipal Responses to Homeless Encampments: The Federal Housing Advocate's Visit to Southern Ontario | Homeless Hub Version française Between September 21 and 26, 2025, the Federal Housing Advocate visited the Region of Waterloo (including the cities of Cambridge and Kitchener) as well as London, Hamilton, and Toro...

Full report ➡️ homelesshub.ca/resource/wha...

7. Put in place strategies and resources to respond to extreme weather year-round.
8. Protect and empower community organizations.
9. Ensure funding is provided to protect the right to adequate housing for refugee claimants.

4. Integrate housing and healthcare.
5. Put in place culturally specific and trauma-informed programs and supports for Indigenous people.
6. Address gender-based and systemic violence.

1. Expand and sustain federal investments in human rights-based responses to encampments.
2. End forced encampment evictions and criminalization of homelessness.
3. Stop using coercive methods that force people to choose between the harms of an eviction and inadequate housing.

This new report highlights 9 recommendations to continue to build on progress and continue to respond to encampments while respecting human rights:

A dark blue tent and a shopping cart on yellowing grass. Text on the left reads: “Report - Consult the report on Federal, provincial and municipal responses to encampments.

In case you missed it: Check out our new report that details what we heard about federal, provincial and municipal responses to #encampments. ➡️ www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/resources/ne...

A smiling young girl at a community kitchen is holding a bag of red apples. Text reads: “Statement - Rights matter most in hard times”.

The cost of living is leaving people behind. This #HumanRightsDay, let’s treat access to the essentials of life as a matter of rights. We are stronger when everyone is included.

Read our statement: www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/resources/ne...

YouTube video by Canadian Human Rights Commission - CHRC Know Your Human Rights

#HumanRights shape our everyday experiences – from the choices we make to the responsibilities we share. This #HumanRightsDay, let’s celebrate all the ways human rights touch our lives, protect people, and make a fairer Canada: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmxg...

Photo of researcher and professor Alexandra Flynn and Federal Housing Advocate Marie-Josée Houle.

I was pleased to join researchers, community partners and people with lived experience at the #OttawaU Forum on Homelessness and Community-Engaged Research. These exchanges remind us how essential it is to bring diverse voices together to shape lasting solutions to #homelessness. –MJH

Image of 14 candles and a white ribbon in memory of the women who lost their lives at Polytechnique. Text says: National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women, December 6.

Tomorrow on #December6, we remember the 14 women whose lives were taken simply because they were women.

Gender-based violence must be confronted in our communities. To end femicide, we must challenge misogyny and hate wherever we see it.

Learn more: www.canada.ca/en/women-gen...

Ontario should end forced encampment evictions, federal housing advocate says Advocates told the official that three provincial laws encourage municipalities ‘to back away from a human rights-based response to encampments.’

"People in encampments are in a daily struggle for survival, and public perceptions about their safety are being weaponized to justify the criminalization of poverty and homelessness." Thank you, @housinglogement.bsky.social. www.thetrillium.ca/news/housing...
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What We Heard About Federal, Provincial, and Municipal Responses to Homeless Encampments: The Federal Housing Advocate's Visit to Southern Ontario | Homeless Hub Version française Between September 21 and 26, 2025, the Federal Housing Advocate visited the Region of Waterloo (including the cities of Cambridge and Kitchener) as well as London, Hamilton, and Toro...

Read the full report and recommendations aimed at all levels of government ➡️ homelesshub.ca/resource/wha...

Without sustained federal leadership, municipalities are forced back into crisis-driven, enforcement-based approaches that violate #HumanRights and waste public resources.

However, the UHEI’s limited duration and funding have significantly constrained progress. The urgency of the homelessness and encampments crisis that prompted the UHEI’s creation still exists — and, in most places, has deepened.

The Advocate found that the federal funding under the Unsheltered Homelessness and Encampments Initiative (#UHEI) has initiated important early steps toward human rights–based approaches and contributed to finding people housing.

Image of a green and grey tent encampment next to several trees. The text on the left reads: “News Release: New report recommends permanent federal investments in human rights-based responses to encampments.”

NEWS: In a new report published today, the Federal Housing Advocate is recommending permanent federal investments in human rights-based responses to #encampments. Consult the full news release ➡️ www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/resources/ne...

I welcome today’s release of the National Housing Council’s #Neha review panel reports on the right to housing for women and gender diverse people: nhc-cnl.ca/publications...
Read more on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

They discuss why accessible housing is a human rights issue, the history of accessible housing and the current state in Canada now, and what opportunities exist for the federal government to create more accessible housing.

#NHD #NationalHousingDay #NationalRightToHousingDay #AccessibleHousing

This episode covers all things accessible housing - featuring Marie-Josée Houle, the Federal Housing Advocate, and Professor Stephanie Chipeur, an expert on disability law.

🎙️New podcast!

Don’t miss the new podcast on the importance of accessible housing from the @ciaj-icaj.bsky.social.

Listen here: ciaj-icaj.ca/en/podcasts/...

Read our joint statement:
www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/resources/ne...

Together, we can help shape a Canada where adequate, accessible, safe and affordable housing is within everyone’s reach. –MJH

Let’s keep accessibility at the heart of our work. True inclusion means ensuring that everyone—regardless of ability—can live with dignity and participate fully in their communities.