Systemic Barriers Framework report identifies barriers to housing for groups facing discrimination

By Collaborative Housing Evidence Collaberative (CHEC)

Read the original article, published in the CHEC-CCRL newsletter, here.

A recent Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) study has developed a new framework to understand the barriers that affect access to, and stability within, Canada’s housing system but it may have missed a key group – people experiencing homelessness themselves.
 
The study, entitled Systemic Barriers Framework: Understanding barriers to accessing and staying housed in Canada’s housing system, highlights that some groups face greater barriers. Low-income households, people with disabilities, and racialized newcomers often struggle to find and keep housing. Discrimination in both the rental market and social housing exacerbates these problems. Additionally, income subsidies often fall short of covering housing costs, pushing individuals into competitive and sometimes unfair rental markets.
 
But Sarah Canham, director of the Aging in the Right Place (AIRP) node of the Canadian Housing Research Network (CHRN), said those experiencing homelessness should have been included in the study, in addition to the discrimination mentioned in the report.
 
“Essentially, people experiencing homelessness are discriminated against because of their homelessness — not just because of their intersecting identities,” Canham said. “And, yet, while there are federal laws against other forms of discrimination, there are none that prevent discrimination toward people experiencing homelessness. Federal laws should be developed to better protect our community members who have the greatest housing need against discrimination.” 
 
Furthermore, said Canham, this federal protection should go beyond housing to include other sectors of society that have an impact on human rights.
 
“While the report describes discrimination from landlords, a scoping review our team conducted also found discrimination toward people experiencing homelessness enacted by health and social care providers, family members, security guards, police officers, and members of the public,” she said. “Discrimination from each of these groups impacts people’s access to housing for a variety of reasons — from healthcare providers not supporting appropriate transitions to discharge locations following a hospital stay, to police officers who criminalize and give violation tickets for everyday behaviors of people, and the general public who push back against social housing developments.”   

Canham’s work over the past several years has focused on the barrier of discrimination and includes a 2022 journal article in Housing, Theory and Society, entitled Homeism: Naming the Stigmatization and Discrimination of Persons Experiencing Homelessness: Sarah L. Canham, Piper Moore, Karen Custodio & Harvey Bosma (2022, VOL. 39, NO. 5, 507–523)
 
A very large scoping review, led by Canham and included Rachel Weldrick as an AIRP co-investigator, was just accepted to Health & Social Care in the Community. Otherwise it was completed with colleagues outside of AIRP, at the University of Utah. It should be published and available online soon.
 
The CMHC research points out areas that need further study, such as how housing supply affects discrimination and the specific needs of different newcomer groups.
 
“The new framework can help address these systemic barriers and encourages more research to find effective solutions,” the report said. “Decision-makers are advised to use these findings to improve housing policies and programs, aiming to enhance stability and reduce inequalities.”

Read the report here.