“Homelessness & Affordability Crisis”

Even as housing markets cool in some areas, housing affordability in Canada is the worst in over four decades due, in part, to sustained post-pandemic inflation and comparatively higher interest rates.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation — the federal Crown corporation responsible for administering Canada’s National Housing Act — affordability is defined as mortgage or rent payments that do not exceed more than 30 per cent of a household’s gross monthly income.

If a family makes $50,000 per year before taxes, for instance, anything more than $15,000 per year (or $1,250 per month) spent on rent would put them in an unaffordable situation.

The Supreme Court may soon overturn Ninth Circuit rulings that have aggravated the crisis on the West Coast.

The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear the case of City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, dealing with whether the homeless have a constitutional right to camp on public property. As a result, the Court may soon overturn rulings by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that have greatly contributed to the West Coast’s homelessness crisis.

Six years ago, the Ninth Circuit first decided Martin v. City of Boise, ruling that, unless sufficient shelter beds were available, imposing criminal penalties on people for sleeping and camping in public violated the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. In 2022, the Ninth Circuit strengthened this precedent in the Grants Pass case, stating that even civil citations and citations for putting down bedding were forbidden.

Vacant property occupations are on the rise, and it’s not just the jobless who are making the desperate move

Polo is no ordinary squatter. The builder, 32, enters empty properties and changes the locks, but then he pays the utility bills, renovates and even installs solar panels.

Once the preserve of society’s poorest, now even those holding down jobs are turning to squatting amid skyrocketing rents and high property prices.

The number of people turning to squatting and “unconventional accommodation” has risen by 25pc in the past decade, according to homelessness charity Crisis.

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Tired of stepping over needles and human waste, and navigating around half-conscious addicts and homeless encampments? You’re not alone. Most decent, hardworking people want clean sidewalks for getting to work and walking their children to school.

Yet cities are legally barred from cleaning up homeless encampments. Advocates went to court and won rulings, guaranteeing homeless people almost unfettered freedom to set up tents and live in the rough, your health and safety be damned.