The recent announcement of $1.8 billion over 10 years for the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit will increase access to better quality, stable housing and could decrease homelessness by helping people keep their housing. It will also save lives.
There are few things more important to health than a roof over one’s head. Life expectancy for a homeless person is substantially worse than for the general population and 57 per cent of homeless people in Toronto have a chronic medical condition.
But poor-quality housing and overcrowding are also linked to a number of health conditions. For instance, living in ill-maintained housing increases the risk of accidents due to unsafe structures, infestations such as mice, cockroaches, and a variety of infections. Mould linked to poor ventilation increases the risk of asthma and allergies. Lead poisoning is more common in badly maintained housing. As global warming accelerates, poor cooling and heating are increasingly important for preventing climate-related deaths.
There are a plethora of other impacts that are less obvious, including for our children. High housing costs are among the most frequently cited causes of hunger and inadequate nutrition in Canada, which in turn leads to lower levels of resilience and poses a threat to child development. There are also impacts on education: families in precarious housing move more often and children who change their home three times or greater are more likely to experience emotional problems, repeat a grade or be suspended or expelled from school.
Not surprisingly, experts across the world have identified homelessness and inadequate housing as major public health concerns. And that is just as true in Ontario’s cities — including Toronto — as around the globe. The need is great. According to the city’s one-night Street Needs Assessment in April 2018 there were 8,975 homeless people in Toronto. There are 102,000 households waiting for subsidized housing, and a third of people in Canada’s biggest city are spending over 30 per cent of their income on shelter.
The joint federal-provincial housing benefit could not come at a better time. The scale of its impact on Toronto’s health will of course depend on how generous the housing benefit is and how many people it will reach.
Reports so far indicate the benefit will be typically $575 per household per month. It will be focused on those in (or eligible for) social housing, households in financial need living in community housing, survivors of domestic violence or human trafficking, those who are homeless or precariously housed, the Indigenous population, seniors and people with disabilities.
With an annual pot of $180 million, the benefit could reach 25,000 to 30,000 households across Ontario once it is fully ramped up — with perhaps 10,000 of those in Toronto. That could ease the pressure on 1-in-10 households on the social housing waiting list.
The new housing benefit will not fix everything. It will not end homelessness or make housing more affordable for everyone. It won’t empty our hospital hallways of gurneys or eliminate the need for better access to health care. But it could have a very real and very positive impact for a lot of people who are struggling to make ends meet. And when it improves their housing it will also have important health benefits.
As discussions continue about pharmacare and health transfers we should remember that upstream investments in the social factors like housing are vital for improving health. Good social policy is health policy. Moving upstream to give people the support they need to live healthy lives and decrease their need for medical treatment is a better investment than waiting for people to get sick.
That’s a New Year’s resolution worth keeping.
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/12/30/resolution-on-social-housing-benefit-provides-hope-for-many-in-2020.html
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