Bill C-382

1st Session, 39th Parliament,

55 Elizabeth II, 2006

house of commons of canada

BILL C-382

An Act to provide for secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing for Canadians

WHEREAS the provision of and access to adequate housing is a fundamental human right according to paragraph 25(1) of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads as follows:

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”;

WHEREAS in 1976 Canada signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a legally binding treaty, committing Canada to make progress on fully realizing all economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to adequate housing, as outlined in paragraph 11(1) of the Covenant:

“The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right...”;

WHEREAS the enjoyment of other human rights, such as those to privacy, to respect for the home, to freedom of movement, to freedom from discrimination, to environmental health, to security of the person, to freedom of association and to equality before the law are indivisible from and indispensable to the realization of the right to adequate housing;

WHEREAS the immediate action required of State Parties to the Covenant arises out of paragraph 2(1) of the Covenant, which provides that State Parties undertake to take steps to carry out its provisions by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures;

WHEREAS the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has interpreted this to mean that State Parties are obliged to immediately begin to adopt measures towards the full enjoyment by everyone of the right to housing;

WHEREAS the United Nations Committee has been highly critical of Canada’s failure to make progress on the provision of adequate housing for all Canadians, a criticism made most recently in its concluding observations of December 10, 1998:

“The Committee is gravely concerned that such a wealthy country as Canada has allowed the problem of homelessness and inadequate housing to grow to such proportions that the mayors of Canada’s 10 largest cities have now declared homelessness a national disaster.”;

WHEREAS the United Nations Committee issued a specific recommendation that Canada implement a national strategy aimed at reducing homelessness and poverty, which reads in part:

“The Committee recommends that the federal, provincial and territorial governments address homelessness and inadequate housing as a national emergency by reinstating or increasing, as the case may be, social housing programmes for those in need, improving and properly enforcing anti-discrimination legislation in the field of housing, increasing shelter allowances and social assistance rates to realistic levels, providing adequate support services for persons with disabilities, improving protection of security of tenure for tenants and improving protection of affordable rental housing stock from conversion to other uses. The Committee urges the State Party to implement a national strategy for the reduction of homelessness and poverty.”;

WHEREAS Canada’s wealth and national budget are more than adequate to ensure that every woman, child and man residing in Canada has secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing as part of a standard of living that will provide healthy physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and social development and a good quality of life;

WHEREAS achievement of improved housing conditions is best realized through co-operative partnerships of government and civil society and the meaningful involvement of local communities;

AND WHEREAS the Parliament of Canada wishes to ensure the establishment of national goals and programs that seek to improve the quality of life for all Canadians as a basic right;

NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the Housing Bill of Rights.

INTERPRETATION

2. The definitions in this section apply in this Act.

“accessible housing” means housing that is accessible to the individuals who are intended to occupy it, including those who are disadvantaged by age, physical or mental disability or medical condition, or who are victims of a natural disaster.

“adequate housing” means housing that is habitable and structurally sound, and that provides sufficient space and protection against cold, damp, heat, rain, wind, noise, pollution and other threats to health.

“affordable housing” means housing that is available at a cost that does not compromise the attainment and satisfaction of an individual’s other basic needs of life, including needs for food, clothing and access to education.

“Minister” means the Minister of Public Works and Government Services.

RIGHTS RESPECTING HOUSING

3. (1) Subject to this Act, every individual has the right to secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing, as defined in this Act.

(2) Every individual has the right to the housing referred to in subsection (1) without the discrimination referred to in subsection (3).

(3) No person shall make any discrimination in respect of another’s right to housing under this Act on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, family status, the presence of children, sexual orientation, medical status, citizenship, level of education, employment status, social condition or reliance on welfare or other public assistance.

4. Every individual has the following rights with respect to housing:

(a) a right to security of tenure against arbitrary eviction, forced relocation, expropriation or threat of any of them, or against any other form of harassment;

(b) a right to housing that is appropriate to the individual’s special needs, including the availability of attention combined with independence;

(c) a right for all children, women and men to a home in a safe and healthy environment;

(d) a right to a home free from violence, threat of violence or other form of harassment, both domestic and from outside the home;

(e) a right to enjoyment and respect of privacy in the home;

(f) a right to the economic security that results from protection from rent increases, property tax increases or other housing cost increases that

(i) are sudden or excessive,

(ii) are primarily intended to yield an unreasonable profit or to increase the value of rental property, or

(iii) have the effect of diminishing the other rights established by this Act.

ENFORCEMENT, OFFENCES AND PENALTIES

5. (1) Every individual has the right to bring an action before a court of competent jurisdiction to enforce the rights to which they are entitled under sections 3 and 4 or otherwise under this Act, or under any other laws designed to grant rights to, ensure security in, and prevent discrimination with regard to, access to housing.

(2) Subsection (1) does not reduce or abrogate any other remedy available at law.

6. (1) Every person or legal entity that contravenes any provision of this Act, or takes away or threatens a right of an individual granted by this Act, is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable

(a) to a fine of not more than $5,000 for a first offence; and

(b) to a fine of not more than $10,000 or to imprisonment for not more than six months or to both fine and imprisonment for a second or subsequent offence.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an act or omission that takes away or threatens the rights of more than one individual constitutes a separate offence in respect of each such individual.

GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND HOUSING STRATEGY

7. (1) The Minister shall develop and adopt, in cooperation with the governments of all provinces and with representatives of municipalities and the aboriginal communities, which cooperation includes the conference referred to in section 12, policies to ensure that the costs of housing in Canada do not prevent or threaten the attainment and satisfaction of other basic needs, including needs for food, clothing and access to education.

(2) The policies mentioned in subsection (1) must provide for

(a) financial assistance in respect of rent for those who are otherwise unable to afford the rights to rental housing established by this Act; and

(b) availability of finance and credit without discrimination based on a characteristic listed as a forbidden ground of discrimination in subsection 3(3) for those who, with such finance and credit, may be able to purchase housing.

8. (1) The Minister shall develop and adopt, in cooperation with the governments of all provinces and with representatives of municipalities and the aboriginal communities, which cooperation includes the conference referred to in section 12, a national housing strategy and programs to carry it out, to ensure the full exercise of the rights granted by this Act.

(2) The national housing strategy must provide for the availability, by January 1, 2007, of housing that meets the requirements of this Act and that

(a) is secure, adequate, affordable, accessible, and not for profit in the case of those who cannot otherwise afford it;

(b) reflects the needs of local communities, including aboriginal communities;

(c) does not cost more than thirty percent of the occupants’ pre-tax household income;

(d) is appropriate for different needs and provides reasonable design options, including, in an appropriate proportion, access for the elderly and the disabled;

(e) uses design and equipment standardization where appropriate to accelerate construction and minimize cost;

(f) includes not-for-profit rental housing projects, mixed income not-for-profit housing cooperatives, special-needs housing and housing that allows senior citizens to remain in their homes as long as possible;

(g) includes the housing for the homeless specified in section 11;

(h) includes provision for temporary emergency housing and shelter in the event of disasters and crises; and

(i) complies with standards for the maintenance of existing housing stock or for the construction and maintenance of new housing and appropriate health, security and safety standards.

(3) The national housing strategy described in this section shall be implemented as soon as possible in accordance with section 12 to ensure the fulfillment of subsection (4).

(4) The right to secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing described in this Act is a right that is legally enforceable from January 1, 2007.

9. The programs developed under section 8 shall ensure that priority in the provision of secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing is given to

(a) those who have not had secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing over an extended period;

(b) those with special housing requirements because of family status or size or because of a mental or physical disability; and

(c) those who have difficulty in obtaining housing because of a characteristic listed as a forbidden ground of discrimination in subsection 3(3).

10. Programs developed under section 8 shall include the provision for the rights of the homeless described in section 11.

11. (1) Every individual who is homeless has a right to the immediate provision by public authorities of adequate, self-contained and appropriate housing.

(2) A hostel, emergency shelter or accommodation that provides only bed and breakfast is not adequate housing for the purposes of subsection (1).

(3) Every homeless individual who is refused the housing provided for in subsection (1) has the right to appeal the refusal in a court of competent jurisdiction.

12. (1) The Minister shall, within 180 days after the coming into force of this Act, convene a conference of the ministers of the Crown for each province responsible for housing and representatives of municipalities and the aboriginal communities.

(2) The conference convened pursuant to subsection (1) shall

(a) develop standards and objectives for the national housing strategy described in section 8, and programs to carry it out;

(b) set targets for the commencement of the programs;

(c) recommend a date by which an additional one percent of the annual expenditures of the federal and all provincial and municipal governments during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007 are to be assigned to national housing programs throughout Canada; and

(d) develop the principles of an agreement between the federal and all provincial governments and representatives of the municipalities and aboriginal communities for the development and delivery of the programs.

13. The Minister shall cause a report on the conference, including the matters referred to in paragraphs 12(2)(a) to (d), to be laid before each House of Parliament on any one of the first five days that the House sits following the expiration of 180 days after the end of the conference.

COMING INTO FORCE

14. Sections 5 and 6 and subsection 11(3) come into force on January 1, 2007.