Home Truths

Fixing Canada's Housing Crisis

By Carolyn Whitzman

UBC Press, On Point Press

This is the book that Canadians must read to understand, confront, and solve our housing crisis.

Hundreds of thousands of Canadians exist on the edge. Renters fear eviction, homeowners feel trapped, and both are vulnerable to becoming homeless with a single stroke of misfortune. Unaffordable housing in Canada is tearing communities apart as long-time residents seek affordable housing elsewhere and businesses shutter because they cannot find staff who can afford to live nearby. For two generations, Canadians have watched affordable housing vanish while other nations have been tackling the problem.

In Home Truths, housing expert Carolyn Whitzman reviews the decades of policy that have gotten us into this mess and shows how all levels of government can work together to provide affordable housing where it is needed. Her compelling arguments for policy solutions are backed by ideas from researchers, planners, politicians, developers, and housing advocates at home and abroad.

Home Truths addresses Canada’s crisis from all sides, including exploring what adequate housing looks like, providing ideas on how to resolve homelessness, explaining why nonmarket housing is crucial for Canada, and showing how and why to tackle ever-growing wealth disparities between renters and those who own.

From policymakers, planners, developers, and observers needing to understand Canada’s housing struggles through to Canadians seeking ideas for a new way forward, Home Truths is a critical read for a nation on edge.

RELATED TOPICS: Political Science, Public Policy & Administration, Urban Studies & Planning

Carolyn Whitzman’s Home Truths will likely be one of the most-quoted books on housing in the months ahead. Planner's Bookshelf, Canadian Planning & Policy Journal

Home Truths is the definitive book on the Canadian housing crisis. Carolyn Whitzman explains what went wrong, why, and the extent of the damage, and then draws from compelling examples in Europe and Asia to identify viable solutions that will scale. Karen Chapple, director, School of Cities, University of Toronto

Carolyn Whitzman is one of Canada’s leading housing researchers – and it shows. She provides a wide suite of tools to address housing issues and covers issues from supply to zoning to speculation. This is a fantastic and impactful book! Brian Doucet, coauthor of Streetcars and the Shifting Geographies of Toronto: A Visual Analysis of Change

Home Truths delivers exactly what the title promises: a clear and accessible narrative of how we got into the housing crisis and real solutions for getting out of it. The depth and breadth of Carolyn Whitzman’s housing policy knowledge are on full display, but you don’t need to be a policy expert to dig in. Most importantly, she weaves through an intersectional feminist analysis, ensuring no one is left behind. This is an indispensable resource! Leila Sarangi, national director of Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty

The recent debate over Canada’s housing crisis – and in particular, calls for more supply – has obscured the precise nature of the crisis, which is that we’ve failed to find ways to add truly affordable housing for those in greatest need. Carolyn Whitzman’s work pushes back against the dominant narrative with much needed data and analysis that should provide policy makers with an effective roadmap for reform. John Lorinc, senior editor at Spacing Magazine

Home Truths provides a practical reframing of housing programs and policies in Canada, drawing on our own history and innovations from international contexts. Whitzman hammers home the evidence that we need to build affordable, sustainable housing, providing inspiring examples of supportive housing, taxation to raise funds for affordable housing, and development approaches based on collaboration across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Ren Thomas, associate professor, School of Planning, Dalhousie University

Home Truths is a must read. Whitzman brings the complexity of our current ‘wicked problem’ – a devastating global housing crisis – to a succinct and pointed truth: the solution lies on our shoulders, all of our shoulders. I love Whitzman’s ability to interlace cold, hard data with best (and worst) practices from around the world and shots of humour, humility, and hard truths. She tells a compelling story of how we got here, pulling no punches when it comes to blame – and there is plenty to go around – while embedding the possible solutions in evidence-based strategies that promise hope for our future. Margaret Pfoh, CEO of the Aboriginal Housing Management Association

Carolyn Whitzman is a leading housing and senior policy researcher. She helped develop the Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) project based at the University of British Columbia. She has authored, coauthored, or lead-edited six previous books, the most recent being Clara at the Door with a Revolver. She has undertaken research for the Office of the Federal Housing Advocate, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa, and many other organizations. She lives in Ottawa.

Introduction

1 What Is a Home?

2 How Did We Get in This Mess?

3 Who’s in Charge?

4 Who Needs What Homes Where, at What Cost?

5 Can Canada End Homelessness?

6 Why Start with NonMarket Housing?

7 Can Housing Become Abundant Again?

8 How Can Renters Have the Same Rights As Owners?

9 Is There a Future for Affordable Home Ownership?

10 Who Should Pay?

11 What Can We Do?