Bridging Perspectives and Balancing Priorities: New Directions for Housing Policy in Canada
Publication: Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
22 December 2016
Abstract
In this paper, we outline three genealogies of housing policy in Canada—affordable housing, mental health housing, and housing for homeless persons—and present the focus, research, and strengths/critiques of these genealogies. The increased visibility and adoption of Housing First (HF) in Canadian policy has created tension between groups working on housing and homelessness. Critics rightly point out that HF does little to increase the availability and accessibility of affordable housing. We discuss the homelessness sector as a bridge between the affordable housing sector and the mental health sector and outline how collaboration might take shape in addressing homelessness and affordable housing in Canada.
Résumé
Dans cet article, nous présentons trois généalogies de la politique du logement au Canada—le logement abordable, le logement associé aux problématiques de santé mentale et le logement pour les personnes sans-abri—et exposons les discussions, la recherche, et les points forts / critiques de ces généalogies. La visibilité et l’adoption accrue de Logement d’abord dans la politique canadienne a créé des tensions entre les groupes de travail sur le logement et l’itinérance. Les critiques soulignent à juste titre que Logement d’abord ne contribue guère à accroître la disponibilité et l’accessibilité des logements abordables. Nous discutons du secteur de l’itinérance comme un pont entre le secteur du logement abordable et le secteur de la santé mentale et décrivons comment la collaboration peut prendre forme dans la lutte contre l’itinérance et le logement abordable au Canada.
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Published In
Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
Volume 35 • Number 3 • December 2016
Pages: 55 - 68
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Version of record online: 22 December 2016
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Timothy MacLeod, S. Kathleen Worton, and Geoffrey Nelson. 2016. Bridging Perspectives and Balancing Priorities: New Directions for Housing Policy in Canada. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health.
35(3): 55-68. https://doi.org/10.7870/cjcmh-2016-038
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