AHMA’s strategies align with Federal Housing Advocate’s (FHA’s) Annual Report

Press Release

Background:

The Federal Housing Advocate (FHA), Marie Josée Houle, submitted this Annual Report to the minister in June, 2025.1 This is a summary of the Annual Report and its alignment with AHMA’s strategies.

Summary:

The FHA’s Annual Report urges the federal government to take proactive interventions and long-term solutions that prioritize affordability, stability, and human rights in housing and homelessness policies. The Advocate continues to focus on encampments, Indigenous housing, prioritizing housing for youth, and advocating for accessible housing for seniors and people with disabilities.

The main areas of focus for the FHA in 2024-2025:

1. Encampments:

o Ensuring governments uphold the rights and dignity of encampment residents: Ongoing advocacy for governments to end forced evictions, respect inherent Indigenous rights, act to save lives by providing basic necessities for life, and address the root causes of encampments.

o Funding for Community and human-rights based responses to encampments: There was a new investment of $250 million in the 2024 budget for human rights-based community encampment response plans to be matched by the provinces and territories (BC received $90 million). The Advocate cautions that there must be clear guidelines and transparency to ensure this funding is used for encampment community action plans that are consistent with a human rights-based approach.

o Resources to support governments to take human rights-based approaches to encampments: They published a fact sheet for provinces and a fact sheet for municipalities that highlight the Advocate’s recommendations to meet human rights obligations.

o Encampments jurisprudence: They created a report with a legal evidence base to understand how encampments should be treated by law in Canada.

1 This is the final report of her first mandate, and she has been reappointed for a second term until 2028.

2. Advocating for the right to housing for Métis in Saskatchewan: The FHA undertook extensive engagement and launched a report in partnership with Métis Nation Saskatchewan.

2. Monitoring the right to adequate housing for people with disabilities: The FHA and Canadian Human Rights Commission developed a joint monitoring framework on the right to adequate housing for people with disabilities. They analyzed StatsCan data for the outcome indicators in this framework, confirming that people with disabilities face countless barriers in accessing adequate housing.

2. Driving human rights accountability at review panels: The FHA participated in the following review panels.
o Financialization of purpose-built rental housing

o Right to housing for women, Two-Spirit, trans and gender-diverse people o Right to accessible housing

2. Ongoing Submissions

o The FHA has an online submission tool where individuals and organizations can make submissions to the FHA with relevant information. The FHA uses this as an information-gathering method to identify systemic issues. The Advocate can also refer submissions to the National Housing Council’s review panel process so they are included in the public hearing examining specific systemic issues.

o In 2024–2025, the submissions highlighted a troubling trend of systemic barriers in housing, where women, gender diverse individuals, and persons with disabilities face heightened risks of violence, discrimination, and inadequate living conditions, emphasizing the urgent need for safer, more inclusive, and accessible housing solutions.

The recommendations in the Annual Report include:

1. The need to reinforce the accountability mechanisms under the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA). Including implementing the recommendations of the FHA and review panels, ensuring adequate funding for interdependent mechanisms created under the NHSA, as well as participatory processes and the Tenant Protection Fund.

1. Implement an all-of-government action approach to housing as a human right. This includes ensuring the Federal government’s public communications uses human rights language in housing agreements and when discussing housing. They recommend all officials working on housing and homelessness policy and programs undergo training that includes a human rights-based approach, Indigenous rights, gender-based analysis, cultural safety and trauma and violence-informed approaches.
2. Invest in First Nations, Inuit and Métis housing and infrastructure. They specifically mention delivering on the government’s commitment to support the development of, and provide long-term funding for, an urban, rural and northern (URN) Indigenous housing strategy that is Indigenous-led. They highlight that this funding must be allocated and rolled

out swiftly. Additional recommendations are focused on Nunatsiavut, Nunavut, and Métis Nation – Saskatchewan.

4. Strengthen the National Housing Strategy and Canada’s Housing Plan. This includes prioritizing nonmarket housing, monitoring community encampment response plans, ensuring income supports are indexed to inflation and designed to ensure housing stability, implementing the measures in the Blueprint for a Renters’ Bill of Rights, and embedding accessible and adaptable housing guidelines into all strategies. They also specifically mention coordinating a government wide response at the Ministerial level to uphold youth security of tenure.

4. Lay the groundwork to begin shaping the next National Housing Strategy including working with the FHA to identify participatory processes and document lessons learned and shortcoming identified in the NHS and related programs.

FHA and AHMA Alignment:

An emphasis on FIBI design and delivery of housing solutions is embedded in this report and throughout the work of the FHA, creating close alignment with AHMA’s mandate, the URN Strategy, and the addendums in progress (Youth and GBV Strategies).

FHA Recommendations

Invest in FNMI housing and infrastructure

⦁ Uphold the inherent rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people with regards to housing, as articulated under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People Act (UNDA).

⦁ The FHA calls for long term funding for an URN Indigenous housing strategy that is
Indigenous-led.

Human Rights Based Encampment Solutions

⦁ Monitor Community Encampment Response Plans to ensure they implement a human rights-based approach and incorporate meaningful engagement with people living in encampments and local Indigenous leadership.

AHMA Program and Strategy Alignment

⦁ Aligns with AHMA’s mandate and URN strategy.

⦁ AHMA is a strategic partner in the Vancouver HEART Table and also undertaking research into the housing histories of Indigenous people living in encampments.

⦁ Many AHMA members provide Indigenous-led encampment outreach.

⦁ AHMA is completing a province wide encampment scan that includes information on each encampment and whether local Indigenous organizations or Nations are included in the responses. We could share this as a submission with the FHA when it is complete.

Housing for People with Disabilities AHMA partners with CLBC on research
and housing models for people with
diverse abilities.
AHMA is also partnering with Inclusion BC
on a paper on the right of people with
disabilities to parent.
Upholding youth security of tenure • Aligns with AHMA’s Indigenous Youth
Housing Strategy and the models
developed by the Indigenous Youth
Steering Committee.
Right to housing for women, Two-Spirit, AHMA created a submission for Neha and
trans and gender-diverse people spoke on one of the panels.
The FHA participated in the Neha AHMA’s GBV Strategy partially aligns with
review panel (Neha) this area of FHA advocacy. Future phases
The FHA prioritizes advocacy for of this work will include a more expansive
these groups and using a Gender- GBA+ approach.
based Analysis Plus Approach.

More Information and Additional Links:

AHMA website: www.ahma-bc.org (see the policy pages and research/reports)

FHA Annual Report: https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/resources/publications/federal-housing-advocates-2024-2025-annual-report

FHA reports on encampments: https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/resources/newsroom/federal-response-encampments-step-forward-and-work-must-continue

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