The Federal Housing Advocate is an independent, nonpartisan watchdog, empowered to drive meaningful action to address inadequate housing and homelessness in Canada.
The Office of the Federal Housing Advocate, housed at the Canadian Human Rights Commission, supports the Advocate in carrying out their mandate.
Together, we promote and protect the human right to housing in Canada, including the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing.
The Advocate's role
The goal of the Advocate's work is to drive change on key systemic housing issues and advance the right to housing for all in Canada.
The Advocate is responsible for making recommendations to improve Canada's housing laws, policies and programs so that they enable people and families in Canada to have access to adequate, affordable and safe housing that meets their needs. The Advocate monitors the human right to adequate housing and Canada's national housing strategy.
The Advocate sits as an ex-officio member of the National Housing Council.
The Advocate also promotes a meaningful voice and role for individuals and communities affected by inadequate housing and homelessness. The Advocate's mandate is guided by a human rights-based approach, which values human dignity, participation, accountability, inclusion, non-discrimination, transparency, access to justice, and respect for human rights laws and obligations.
The Advocate's work
Driving change on systemic housing issues: The Federal Housing Advocate holds governments to account on their obligations to address housing need and homelessness across Canada. The Advocate makes recommendations to the government and other decision makers to improve Canada's housing laws, policies and programs.
Receiving submissions: The Advocate receives submissions from people or organizations across Canada on the systemic housing issues they are facing and makes recommendations on how to address them.
If you have experienced homelessness or had problems with your housing, you can make a submission to the Advocate. Sharing your experience will help the Advocate drive change and advance the right to housing for all in Canada.
Amplifying people's voices: The Advocate raises awareness on the most common and critical housing issues that people across Canada are facing. The Advocate plays a key role in amplifying the voices of those impacted by housing need and homelessness. Public engagement and input are critical to informing the work of the Advocate.
The Advocate is committed to a broad and ongoing engagement process with Indigenous peoples, people with lived experience of housing need and homelessness, civil society organizations, governments and experts across Canada.
Making recommendations on systemic housing issues: The Advocate may review a systemic housing issue, or request that the National Housing Council establish a Review panel to hold a hearing to review any systemic housing issue within federal jurisdiction.
The findings and recommendations brought forward by the Advocate or the Review Panel will help to identify solutions and necessary reforms to laws, policies and programs that affect housing and homelessness in Canada. This mechanism is a way to target the most critical systemic issues, as well as urge the government to take action on them. It also gives members of affected communities an opportunity to be included and participate in the process, and to contribute to housing policy and solutions.
Monitoring the right to housing: The Federal Housing Advocate is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the right to housing and systemic housing issues in Canada. This work includes stakeholder engagement, analyzing and conducting research, initiating studies, and consulting on systemic housing issues. The Advocate can initiate studies as they see fit into economic, institutional, or industry conditions in federal jurisdiction that affect the housing system.
The Advocate is also responsible for monitoring the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing in Canada, and assessing the impacts of legislation, policies and programs that affect housing. The Advocate monitors the progress, goals and timelines of the government's national housing strategy, and is directed to pay close attention to the impact of housing policies and programs on groups and people in greatest housing need or experiencing homelessness.
Reporting to Parliament: The Advocate is responsible for reporting annually to the Minister responsible for housing. The Annual Report will include a summary of the Office's activities and contain recommendations to address systemic housing issues. The Advocate can also submit recommendations at any time to the Minister, who must table the Advocate's report in both houses of Parliament and respond within 120 days.