Visions Journal

Bernie Pauly RN, PhD

Reprinted from the Housing as a Human Right issue of Visions Journal, 2022, 17 (2), pp. 5-6

The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated the inextricable link between housing and health. Leila Farha, the former UN special rapporteur on adequate housing, describes housing as “a front-line defence against the coronavirus. Home has rarely been more of a life or death situation.”¹ How have housing and homelessness been impacted during COVID? What policies have driven the rise of tenuous and unaffordable housing? These are some of the questions I answer in this commentary.

The pandemic and housing

Housing has become more tenuous during the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic crisis. Housing is a key determinant of health, and during COVID housing took on important health protection functions, offering prevention from viral infection and a space for self-isolation. However, there are gross inequities in availability and access to safe and affordable housing. Reports of increased domestic violence, evictions due to lack of rent payments and visible homelessness make clear that not everyone has the same means to protect their health.

Visible homelessness has increased, as shelters and drop-ins have had to restrict numbers of people to comply with COVID-19 guidelines. Encampments emerged throughout BC. In some cities, BC Housing took the opportunity to secure hotel sites for those living unsheltered. However, there was not enough hotel space for everyone and some were left behind. That group faced evictions and increasing bylaw enforcement, including 7 to 7 bylaws (nighttime-only camping rules) that result in daily displacement and street sweeps. This increased health and safety risks for homeless residents.

The use of public ordinances as a means of managing homelessness is common in North American cities. Yet this kind of increased enforcement only contributes to stress, lack of sleep and poor mental health. Further investments in bylaws and policing to surveil and displace homeless people do little to end homelessness. These resources would be better spent on housing.

There have been some positive actions for renters. For example, BC introduced a moratorium on evictions and rental supports to mitigate harms. However, in some cases, these have been time-limited measures. While purchase of hotels is positive, a hotel room does not necessarily provide adequate housing. Hotels often lack cooking facilities, and there are other rules, such as no-guest policies, not normally associated with private housing. Thus, we are in desperate need of ongoing rental protections and investments in social housing to fill the gap not just for those who are currently homeless but to prevent homelessness in the first place.

Housing is a right

The urgency of responding to the issues illuminated during the pandemic begs us to recall that housing is a human right that is enshrined in covenants such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Although Canada is a signatory to these conventions, the right to adequate housing wasn’t recognized until 2019 with the passing of the National Housing Strategy Act. This act specifically states that “housing is essential to the inherent dignity and well-being of the person and to building sustainable and inclusive communities.”²

Adequate housing is defined by criteria such as habitability, affordability and security of tenure (meaning that individuals can inhabit a residence without unreasonable interference by landlords). According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), assessment of core housing need is based on three criteria: adequacy (housing that is not in need of major repairs), suitability (there is adequate space for residents and no overcrowding) and affordability (no more than 30% of before-tax income). In 2011 there were almost 250,000 people in core housing need in BC, or approximately 15% of the population. According to a 2018 report, 7,655 people were homeless in BC.³ Individuals who were homeless identified three main barriers to accessing housing: high rents, low incomes and lack of available and suitable housing.

Policy failures lead to harms

How is it that housing, a human right and fundamental resource for health and well-being, is out of reach for so many, especially during a pandemic, when people need it most? From the 1970s to the early ‘90s, BC built about 1,000 to 1,500 social housing units per year.⁴ Then, the federal government disinvested in the building of social housing and left this responsibility to the provinces alone. This had negative results in BC. Between 2006 and 2011 only about 280 net new units were built in the province. We have a lot of catching up to do.

As David Hulchanski has observed, the word “homelessness” came into being as policy changes, like the turn away from social housing, began to unfold.⁵ Housing has become a commodity rather than a social good and human right. In Victoria and Vancouver rental-market vacancy rates are 2.2 and 2.6%, respectively, while average rents are $1,275 and $1,508, respectively. This is far beyond the reach of someone on social assistance, who may receive as little as $375 for rent.⁶ Few market controls have been introduced, and considerable barriers exist to building social housing. Social or non-market housing is urgently needed to address the gap in affordable housing.

Precarious housing conditions impact health and well-being, contributing to poor physical and mental health and exacerbation of substance use issues. In terms of mental health, people may experience disrupted sleep, fatigue and increased stress. Substances may be used to help people stay awake or cope with the anxiety, stress and trauma. Lack of housing is associated with early and premature death of homeless people due to inadequate living conditions.⁷

Tenuous and unaffordable housing is a manifestation of the failure of shifting to for-profit housing. This situation has significant impacts on the health and well-being of many. All levels of government must adopt housing as a human right, recognize the linkages between housing and health and invest in safe and affordable social housing in the pandemic and beyond.