Housing Matters

Why Housing Matters

Access to safe, stable, affordable housing is linked to better health.

Affordable housing leaves people with more money to spend on basic needs such as healthy food, clothing, medicine, child care and transportation. These benefits lead to better emotional and mental health, more stability and less stress. Having a safe, secure, well-located place to live is an important part of gaining employment, food security, access to social services, education, recreation and health care.

Poor quality housing is linked to higher rates of:

Disease, illness and injury
Poor nutrition
Poor mental health
Stress and anxiety
Exposure to violence

Who is at Risk?

Indigenous people, those with mental illness and low-income families with children are at greater risk for homelessness and more likely to live in unsafe, unstable, and unaffordable housing. The possibility of homelessness has harmful effects on children, and homelessness has lasting impacts on mental and physical health that can lead to illness later in life.

Want to Know More?

What Can You Do?

There is a clear need for policies to ensure that all people have access to safe, stable, affordable housing, and a need for policy interventions that target specific populations and communities that are at higher risk for insufficient housing.

You can get involved in:

Advocacy work with local housing/income/poverty groups; orient toward effective collective action and steps to prevent homelessness and make housing more affordable.
Policy development to ensure navigation supports at critical points of transition from systems (e.g., hospitals, schools, corrections, child protection, and mental health programs).

Local and regional elections provide an opportunity to vote for parties and candidates whose platforms support the above policies.

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