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WHAG platform statements

The Women's Housing Advocacy Group invites you to read our platforms addressing the areas in need of the most attention for women's housing needs and homelessness to be solved. We identify the problems, and invite you to be part of the solution.

sustaining, maintaining a supply of safe housing for women

part of the problem

There are over 70,000 people on social housing waiting lists of Toronto: although women-led households are the fastest growing family type in Toronto, there is no accurate way of determining the number of women on the social housing wait list. Despite a history of recognizing abused women's "special priority" on the waiting list women are staying in shelters longer because they cannot find a place to live. Despite two sets of provincial Coroner's Inquest recommendations that access to housing for women fleeing violence be improved, the opposite is in fact occurring. The "special priority" status definition for access to social housing has recently been broadened to include all forms of violence committed within any person's housing. In the absence of any increase in housing stock, this pits vulnerable groups against one another in a competition for basic needs and increases the likelihood of women returning to abuse, and quite possibly to their deaths (May/ Iles, 1998; Hadley, 2002).

Other regulatory changes, such as recording all tenants of units as lease holders have foreseeable and dangerous implications for loss of self-determination for women in abusive situations.

Over 300,000 households in Ontario still pay more than half their income on rent. While, vacancy rates are climbing in the upper end of the rental market, now largely composed of condominium landlords, most women are unable to afford these rents. Forced into expensive units due to the lack of alternatives, women face a chronic predicament of living beyond their means with little money left over for food and clothing and one step away from homelessness. Shelter workers report that women who have used the rent supplement programs in privately owned housing are vulnerable to unscrupulous landlords who are privy to personal and financial information. They are subject to threats and sexual harassment because they are reliant on the subsidy to afford the rent.

Exposure to sexual harassment for women-led households was identified in the 1996 study Borders of Homelessness. Women preferred other women as neighbours and particularly those fleeing violence sought out women-only housing to insure a sense of personal safety for themselves and their children.

part of the solution

Housing groups have advocated for the 1% Solution, i.e. that 1% of provincial government budgets be allocated to the development of new housing. The Provincial government's more modest approach is to match funding from the Federal Government's Affordable Housing Program, and yet no clear plan exists. It is our view that we require a long- term plan and clear commitment to increase affordable rental stock. The Golden Report provides a well-researched approach to Toronto housing needs and calls for collaboration between all levels of government in the development of a housing plan that includes the following over the next ten years:

• 40,000 units of new affordable units with 25,000 rent supplements for non-profit units
• 5,000 units of supportive housing
• An increase in the Ontario Works shelter allowance to match average rents

The private sector has proven incapable of providing housing for low-income households. It makes sense to concentrate scarce public resources to assist those with low or fixed incomes. This can be achieved through significant construction or purchase of existing stock for non-profit rental and co-operative housing together with rent supplements.

Non-profit housing that accommodates vulnerable clients such as the recently homeless, women fleeing violence and those with mental health challenges should have access to funds to provide supportive services (see platform #4, Support Services).

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about WHAG
Canada: more on the crisis

platform statements:

• sustaining, maintaining a supply of safe housing for women
• income security
• planning and designing housing for women
• support services

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WHAG platform statements

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No Religious Arbitration Coalition
week without violence
violence against women programs
if you are experiencing violence
women's housing advocacy group (WHAG)

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