Week in Review: September 12, 2025

Here’s a roundup of housing news and issues that we noticed this week:

From ECOHH’s social media

• Housing and climate

• Government of Alberta funding for women's shelters

• The Neha review panel is examining the right to safe, adequate and affordable housing for women, Two Spirit, Trans, and gender-diverse people, and the government's duty to uphold this right. Since the launch of written and oral dialogues, Neha panel members have engaged hundreds of participants across the country, centering the voices of those most impacted by gendered housing precarity. You can access the transcripts of this work, as it continues.

• Exciting news! The special investigation on housing security done by ECOHH and Taproot Publishing has won a major international award. Special congratulations to ECOHH treasurer Eric Rice, who wrote the articles in the feature.

• Even if Edmonton is only #16 in Canadian cities, the bottom line is that the rent is just too damn high in this country

Relevant housing news 

• Voters told Taproot that tackling homelessness is an election issue

• Barrie mayor declares state of emergency to address homeless encampments

• The Temptations of Trite: How Policymakers Avoid Addressing Homelessness as a Structural Challenge

• City goes ahead with Highlands bridge housing project despite residents’ concerns 

• ‘Seeing a little bit of that pessimism’: CMHC economist on fall housing supply report

• Downtown intensification & affordable housing

• Construction underway for veterans’ housing in north west Edmonton

• Housing market supply gap could begin to close with purpose-built rental housing: expert

• CTV National News: Concerns over Toronto, Vancouver housing slowdown affecting future supply

• Regina mother highlights safety concerns while renting from housing authority

• N.B. advocates say homeless people being unfairly targeted

• Funding to move asylum claimants from homeless shelters into apartments sparks questions about fairness 

• Halifax police board adopts policy on handling homeless encampments

• Renters need to make over $78,000 to have affordable rent in Vancouver, Toronto: CCPA

• B.C. town hires private security guards to patrol homeless encampment, downtown core

• Edmonton report advises against stricter short-term rental rules

• Outreach group questions effectiveness, legality of encampment bylaw

• 98 new homes coming to 9 N.W.T. communities

• Use of fixed-term leases for hundreds of tenants in N.S. public housing 'concerning,' says lawyer

• Webster Street tenants relieved after landlord backs off, ending 2.5-year renoviction battle

• A new model for quick, affordable, downtown housing for young people

• Gatineau shipping container village prepares residents for the next step

• 'First of its kind' 2-spirit housing opening soon in Edmonton

• Nunavut Housing Corporation plans to bring more modular homes to Nunavut for the construction workers building houses

• Carfentanil appearing in record levels in Toronto drug supply: report

• Toronto committee calls for race-based data on social housing evictions

• Reject legislation that defines hypodermic needles as weapons, Regina harm reduction activists urge city

• Finding a solution to the affordable housing crisis

• Upcoming Halifax homeless strategy will phase out designated encampments

• You need to make more now to qualify for help with affordable housing, Habitat for Humanity says

• With the highest opioid death rate in Ontario, Thunder Bay remembers those lost to overdoses

• Zero visitors at Peterborough homeless shelter

• Calgary outreach centres see uptick in demand amid heat, wildfire smoke

• In this provocative art installation, drug users write their own obituaries

• Record-high homeless count in Winnipeg sparks calls for action

• Expanded program to help homeless women in Montreal access mental health care, housing

• Edmonton's centralized homeless support centre set to move to McCauley

• Divorce? In this housing market?!

• Nova Scotia public housing waitlist hits 8,200 people

• ‘It’s not weather-dependent anymore’: Homeless outreach orgs prepare for Winnipeg winter

• Lack of affordable housing, addictions driving homelessness in Winnipeg: report

As always, we recommend checking out these sources for additional information on housing and homelessness

• Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) 

• Canadian Centre for Housing Rights

• Canadian Housing & Renewal Association (CHRA) 

• Federal Housing Advocate

• Homeless Hub (Canadian Observatory on Homelessness) 

• Homeward Trust 

• Housing Complex  

• Make the Shift   

• National Right to Housing Network (NRHN)  

• Social Housing & Human Rights (SHHR) 

• Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network