National News You Can Use!
Bruce Pearce, CHRA Past-President, Sheldon Pollett, CHRA NL
Director
Newfoundland and Labrador Housing & Homelessness Network
Provincial Conference
October24-25, 2012
Port Blandford, Newfoundland and Labrador
CHRA … since 1968, a voice for the full range of
affordable housing and homelessness
issues and solutions in Canada
CHRA’s Four Pillars:
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Keeping homes affordable
Ending homelessness
Renewing our communities
Supporting a sustainable housing profession
Our Characteristics:
1. Membership-based (250 and growing)
2. Diverse representation (municipalities, non-profit
& supportive housing providers, provincial housing
departments and many others; the tent is large!)
3. National (advocate to the federal government)
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Newfoundland and Labrador members include …
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AIDS Committee of NL/Tommy Sexton Centre
Canadian Home Builders' Association - Newfoundland and Labrador
Choices for Youth
City of St. John's
Iris Kirby House Inc
Labrador Friendship Centre
Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation
Newfoundland & Labrador Housing & Homelessness Network
Ron Fougere Associates Ltd
Salvation Army – Newfoundland
St. John's Community Advisory Committee on Homelessness
St. John's Native Friendship Centre Association
St. John's Status of Women Council
Stella Burry Community Services
The State of Housing and Homelessness in Canada:
1.5 million households (13%) in core housing need
(2006) = households cannot access locally housing that is
affordable (< 30% of pre-tax income), and/or has adequate
number of bedrooms and/or doesn’t need major repairs
- 14.2 % of NL households in core housing need
- 13.5 % of St. John’s households in core housing need
150,000-300,000 visible homeless Canadians (2005);
many more hidden homeless
– 65,000 homeless youth; particular vulnerabilities facing
young women.
Status of federal housing & homelessness supports:
• $1.7 billion (declining every year) for social housing
– Almost 7200 fewer households in social housing supported in 2012
compared to 2011
• $253 million in Affordable Housing Framework (funding goes to
provinces/territories)- until 2014
• $135 million for Homelessness Partnering Strategy (funding
goes to communities)– until 2014
• Stimulus spending - $2 billion program for social housing builds
and retrofit has ended
• 1 year Eco-energy Retrofit Homes program has ended
CHRA Actions – Policy and Advocacy
- Looking for a concise summary of housing issues and
recommendations that would help resolve them?
- CHRA responded to the federal government’s call for
submissions in consideration of the 2013 budget with 4
recommendations aimed at ensuring:
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New affordable housing can be built;
We can maintain what we have and make it more energy efficient;
More private rental housing can be built; and
Vulnerable populations can be supported through housing &
supports.
* You can find CHRA’s pre-budget submission at www.chra-achru.ca
CHRA Actions – Policy
- At the 2012 CHRA Congress in St John’s, CHRA launched
“Ending Youth Homelessness: A CHRA Policy Statement”
which outlines recommendations to help stem the tide of
youth homelessness.
- Over the summer, CHRA has asked organizations and
individuals to endorse the policy – and more than 1000 have!
These endorsements will be forwarded to federal decisionmakers in October 2012 as part of a mini campaign.
- New CHRA policy work forthcoming in 2013 on private rental
housing.
CHRA Actions – Network Building
The 44th CHRA National Housing & Homelessness Congress
was held in St John’s, May 1-4, 2012
– Highest attendance in recent records
– Brought national profile to great work in housing and
homelessness in Newfoundland and Labrador
– CHRA Congress 2013 will be a hard act to follow!
CHRA Actions – Network Building
- CHRA hosted the first ever meeting of Community Advisory
Boards/Entities (CABs/CEs) in St John’s from May 4-5, 2012.
CABs shared promising practices, lessons learned and
instigated the development of a unique network of
practitioners.
– St John’s CAB contributed to the funding of the research, which
led to the network.
– City of St. Johns hosted the event, and provided critical funding.
– NLHHN ensured rural homelessness issues reflected at the
event.
- The 2nd annual meeting of CABs/CEs will take place May 3-4,
2013 in Ottawa.
CHRA Actions – Advocacy
- CHRA will host a ‘Housing and Homelessness
Advocacy Day’ on April 30, 2013 on Parliament
Hill.
- This will happen the day prior to CHRA Congress
and will provide CHRA members an opportunity to
meet with Members of Parliament and Senators to
discuss housing and homelessness issues and
solutions.
CHRA Actions – Advocacy
- Bill C-400 is an NDP-sponsored bill which is before
Parliament. It calls for a national housing strategy. CHRA
has supported it from the start, and has worked to
facilitate broader support for the bill by highlighting it at
Congress and among CHRA’s membership.
- Second reading of bill is slated for the fall of 2012
- Contact your MP and tell her/him you support the bill!
CHRA Actions – Technical Assistance
- CHRA offers 6-7 webinars every year, which present
promising practices from across the county.
- FREE for CHRA members!
- Next webinar is “Housing as Settlement: Issues and
Solutions in Housing for Newcomers”, Nov 7.
Remaining 2012-13 webinars
to be announced soon!
CHRA Actions – Technical Assistance
- A Simplified Assessment Tool (SAT) has been developed
by CHRA and partners
- The SAT is a user-friendly tool to help social housing
providers examine the likely impact of expiring funding
(the declining $1.7B)
- You can find this at www.chra-achru.ca
CHRA Actions – Congress 2013
It all comes together from April
30 – May 3, 2013 in Ottawa.
The 45th Annual National
Housing and Homelessness
Congress will take place, with
top-notch speakers, housing
tours, workshop and
networking events.
Registration opens November 2012
www.chracongress.ca
Thank You!
You can find all of the items referenced
in this presentation at
www.chra-achru.ca
Or by calling 613.594.3007
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