CCD Seeks Commitments on Accessible and Affordable Housing

For Immediate Distribution | September 13, 2021

Housing is a fundamental human need.  Due to structural inequalities, people with disabilities in Canada experience difficulty securing accessible and affordable housing that also includes needed disability-related supports.  The Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), a national non-partisan human rights organization of people with disabilities, is challenging Canada’s political parties to share detailed plans with timelines about how they propose to remedy the disability housing crisis, which is a well-known long-standing problem.  “Political leadership on accessible and affordable housing in Canada is long over-due,” states Heather Walkus, CCD 1st Vice Chair. “In advance of the election, parties need to address how they plan to make decent housing a reality for Canadians with various types of disabilities. We want to see an end to people with disabilities struggling with substandard housing that does not meet their needs, couch surfing, and living on the streets.”

The report Housing Issues for People with Disabilities in Canada, which was presented to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and authored by 8 disability organizations, including CCD, found that in Canada people with disabilities are more likely than people without disabilities to be: homeless, have few housing choices, are screened out of housing by landlords, and have core housing needs (lack of affordability, housing in need of repair, poor neighborhoods, lack of accessibility, and lack of funding for support workers for people with psycho-social disabilities, which are essential for people to stay housed)[1]. Statistics Canada reports that for people living with mental health-related disabilities, 21% were living in a household considered to be in core housing need. [2]

“To be effective and inclusive, housing strategies need to be developed using an intersectional lens that is inclusive of the needs of women with disabilities, racialized people with disabilities, refugees and newcomers to Canada with disabilities and people with various types of disabilities, including those that are invisible, episodic and psycho-social in nature,” states Jewelles Smith, CCD Communications and Government Relations Coordinator. “This is something we will be looking for in all housing plans.”

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For More Information Contact:

Jewelles Smith, Communications and Government Relations Coordinator, jewelles@ccdonline.ca

Heather Walkus, 1st Vice Chair, heather@ccdonline.ca

About CCD

CCD is a non-partisan, national human rights organization of people with disabilities working for an inclusive and accessible Canada.

Mission

The Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) is a social justice organization of people with all disabilities that champions the voices of people with disabilities, advocating an inclusive and accessible Canada, where people with disabilities have full realization of their human rights, as described in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Mandate

The Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) unites advocacy organizations of people with disabilities to defend and extend human rights for persons with disabilities through public education, advocacy, intervention in litigation, research, consultation and partnerships.  CCD amplifies the expertise of our partners by acting as a convening body and consensus builder.

^[1] Learning-Network-Brief-35.pdf (irisinstitute.ca)

^[2] Housing vulnerabilities among Canadians with mental health-related disabilities (statcan.gc.ca)

^[3] Learning-Network-Brief-35.pdf (irisinstitute.ca)

^[4] La vulnérabilité en matière de logement chez les Canadiens ayant une incapacité liée à la santé mentale (Stat. Canada).

[1] Learning-Network-Brief-35.pdf (irisinstitute.ca)
[2] Housing vulnerabilities among Canadians with mental health-related disabilities (statcan.gc.ca)
[3] Learning-Network-Brief-35.pdf (irisinstitute.ca)
[4] La vulnérabilité en matière de logement chez les Canadiens ayant une incapacité liée à la santé mentale (Stat. Canada).