Federal Housing Advocate's Preliminary Recommendations to the Review Panel on the Financialization of Purpose-Built Rental Housing

The Advocate’s representations establish that: • Financialization of purpose-built rental housing is a systemic housing issue within the jurisdiction of Parliament that is having a negative impact on the full and equal enjoyment of the human right to adequate housing and other human rights; • It results in violations of individuals’ enjoyment of the human right to adequate housing, in particular t. [...] Government actions and inactions which contribute to the financialization of rental housing contravene the NHSA’s stated objectives to: 3 (a) recognize that the right to adequate housing is a fundamental human right affirmed in international law; (b) recognize that housing is essential to the inherent dignity and well- being of the person and to building sustainable and inclusive communities; (c). [...] The decline in access to adequate housing, and increasing rates of homelessness, since the cancellation of the federal housing program are evidence of retrogression on Canada’s human rights obligations.5 Human rights obligations and preliminary recommendations: The Government of Canada must reverse this retrogression, and dedicate the maximum available resources to the progressive realization of t. [...] C) Policies that enable financialization: The research points to a number of federal policies that contribute to financialization, such as the deregulation of finance, legislative reform of pension funds, the introduction of REITs, and the creation of the Canada Mortgage Bond. [...] The National Housing Strategy must be revised to align with the requirements of the National Housing Strategy Act, and its legislated purpose of advancing the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing.