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This executive summary lays out highlights from the report "Keys to the Future: Unlocking Adequate Housing for Refugees & Refugee Claimants in Canada," written by Max Bell School Master of Public Policy students Asha Sivarajah, Elsie Mares, Francis Padi, Jibril Hussein, and Pallawi Anand as part of the 2024 Policy Lab.

Access the summary and presentation below, and read their full report here.

In 2023, Canada received a record 143,680 refugee claimants (). Historically, lower volumes of refugee claimant arrivals were absorbed primarily by informal support networks, and at times, by newcomer-serving organizations. However, has resulted in greater reliance on emergency shelters and increasing rates of homelessness among claimants. In addition to claimants, , becoming a global leader in the number of resettled refugees received relative to its population. Amidst the backdrop of Canada’s broader housing landscape, many resettled refugees also face barriers to adequate housing despite existing resettlement programs and support. The are underscored by widespread unaffordability, driven by the financialization of housing, lags in housing starts, and disinvestment from social housing.

As Canada continues to grapple with housing challenges and increasing arrivals of resettled refugees and refugee claimants, the Federal Housing Advocate (FHA) has posed the following policy question:

How can Canada better fulfill its obligations to ensure the right to adequate housing for resettled refugees and refugee claimants in Canada?

Methodology

This report highlights the necessity of a targeted and phased approach, incorporating interventions to effectively fulfill Canada's obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) as well as the right to adequate housing, which has been affirmed under the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA). Evidence gathered from a comprehensive literature review and interviews with over twenty-two stakeholders across Canada and abroad, including representatives from settlement organizations, government agencies, housing rights organizations, and civil society organizations (CSOs) was used to inform the following key findings:

Key Findings

1. Despite the federal government’s responsibility towards the reception of refugee claimants and the volume of claimants with urgent housing needs, there is a complete absence of a national reception plan and leadership on this issue.
2. There is a lack of recognition of the scale, causes, and extent of housing insecurity faced by this population due to inadequate data collection on the housing experiences and outcomes of refugees and refugee claimants.
3. Fragmented and reactive approaches to resettlement can be attributed to ‘jurisdictional finger-pointing,’ which results in limited accountability across all levels of government to fulfill the right to adequate housing for refugees and claimants.
4. Current approaches to address the housing needs of refugee claimants are limited to the funding of temporary accommodations offered by the Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP) and the Interim Lodging Service (ILS). This costly and short-sided approach does not advance sustainable housing outcomes for claimants.
5. The provision of wrap-around support is a key contributor to long-term housing security for refugees, and especially claimants.
6. A variety of factors including unaffordability, administrative delays, and limited housing supply, relegate refugees and claimants into a submarket of inadequate private rental housing.
7. The backdrop of Canada’s unaffordable housing landscape heightens refugees and refugee claimants’ vulnerability to various forms of housing discrimination.

These insights identify systemic and structural barriers to housing for resettled refugees, and especially claimants, highlighting the need to improve strategic alignment between Canada’s housing and refugee policies. Our policy response is formulated based on four recommendations, each guided by an objective:

Objective 1: Enact a national plan for the reception of refugee claimants with the federal government taking primary ownership of their housing needs upon arrival.

Recommendation: Infrastructure Canada, in collaboration with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), should develop and implement a centralized plan to establish National Reception Centres in major Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) across Canada.

1.1 Develop and implement a targeted program of National Reception Centres (NRCs) under the NHS: Create a targeted funding stream to establish NRCs under the Rapid Housing Stream (RHS) of the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF).

1.2 Amend Bilateral Agreements under the NHS to designate jurisdictional responsibilities: Amend bilateral agreements to clearly define cost-sharing agreements, designate jurisdictional responsibilities across all levels of government, and create coordination channels between Infrastructure Canada, CMHC, and IRCC to streamline service delivery.

1.3 Align National Reception Centres in accordance with human rights-based principles to advance sustainable housing outcomes: National Reception Centres should provide temporary accommodations for 1-3 months and offer comprehensive services to meet the immediate settlement needs of refugee claimants, ensuring homelessness prevention during the critical period of arrival.

Objective 2: Redirect existing interim funding schemes toward more cost-effective, sustainable, and comprehensive housing solutions with demonstrated success until National Reception Centres are operational.

Recommendation: The FHA should advocate for the redirection of existing funding towards scaling and supporting the shelter and service delivery capacity of refugee-serving community organizations which offer adequate housing outcomes.

2.1 Revise IHAP and ILS allocation terms: Modify the IHAP and the ILS terms and conditions to provide grants for the operations, infrastructure, and capacity-building of CSOs currently providing emergency housing.

2.2 Establish oversight and accountability guidelines: Develop clear guidelines and oversight mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability over the use of federal funds by CSOs, including periodic reporting of expenditure, outcomes, and compliance with service delivery standards.

2.3 Create partnership frameworks: Ensure a coordinated approach to the disbursement of federal grants by establishing a framework for CSO’s to ‘opt-in’ to.

2.4 Support comprehensive service provision: Ensure funding supports the provision of both housing and wrap-around services, including legal assistance, permanent housing search, employment support, and community integration programs.

Objective 3: Optimize the delivery, eligibility, and availability of services and social support for resettled refugees and refugee claimants.

Recommendation: IRCC, in collaboration with Infrastructure Canada, should address service delivery gaps which leave resettled refugees, and especially claimants, disproportionately vulnerable to housing precarity and homelessness.

3.1 Index the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) monthly shelter allowance to market rental rates for resettled refugees: Increase the shelter allowance under the RAP to ensure resettled refugees can secure adequate rental housing.
3.2 Expand eligibility of essential settlement services to refugee claimants: Allocate resources to scale the capacity of Service Provider Organizations (SPOs) to provide core services to refugee claimants who are currently ineligible. These services will be integrated into NRCs (Recommendation 1) once they are operational.
3.3 Enhance IRCC’s capacity to efficiently process and receive refugee claims: Build capacity within IRCC to ensure timely provision of essential documentation to refugee claimants, including coordination between the IRB and the CBSA.

Objective 4: Adopt a human rights-based approach to data collection to gather, monitor, and anticipate the housing needs and outcomes of refugees and claimants.

Recommendation: The FHA should advocate for the adoption of a HRBA to the collection of housing and homelessness data, in collaboration with Statistics Canada, Infrastructure Canada and CMHC, to better capture, anticipate, and monitor the housing needs and outcomes of refugees and refugee claimants.

4.1 Apply a human rights-based approach to housing and homelessness data collection for refugees and refugee claimants: Have the federal government, provinces and territories (P/Ts) implement a HRBA to housing and homelessness data collection to ensure refugee and claimant housing needs are met and that their rights are upheld.

4.2 Integration of refugee and refugee claimant data in shelters and transitional housing within HIFIS and National Shelter Surveys: Amend bilateral agreement action plans to ensure refugee and claimant housing data is collected and refugee shelters and transitional housing are incorporated into HIFIS.

4.3 Empower CSOs to track the housing outcomes of refugees and claimants through the National Housing Strategy Research and Planning Fund (NHSRPF): Allocate a portion of the NHSRPF under the NHS to create a dedicated funding stream for refugee-serving organizations to contribute to the collection of data on housing outcomes for the individuals they serve.

Next Steps

Recommendations and insights offered in this FHA-commissioned report may be used to support the FHA’s advocacy and accountability efforts with relevant government departments and agencies responsible for implementing the NHS. As part of the NHSA reporting requirements, the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities must provide a response to recommendations made by the FHA, which could serve as an urgent ‘call to action’ for all levels of government to implement policies and programs which promote the realization of the right to adequate housing for refugees and claimants.

Download the full version of this report here.

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