Here’s a concept: sponsor Master’s and PhD level students to write housing-related papers, connect them with mentors in the field, and give them the opportunity to present their findings at high-profile housing events.

This is exactly what SHSC has done over the past 3 ½ years. SHSC, with the help of the now defunct Canadian Policy and Research Networks (CPRN), worked to put in place the top housing research internship program in Canada! The program was led by housing scholar Dr. Mike Buzzelli, of the University of Western Ontario, and issued 20 publications during that time.

Paper downloads have numbered in the tens of thousands and many interns have gone on to meaningful and relevant employment in the housing sector. The program has seen wave after wave of students write on topics that delve into the diversity of challenges faced by the housing sector.

Putting humility aside for a second, the results have been incredible. Our most recent round of interns have produced work that offers significant contributions to our collective housing knowledge and have helped to build policy capacity in Canada.

Here are brief summaries of their papers:

Recession and Stimulus Spending: A Preliminary Examination of Stimulus Spending on Affordable Housing in Ontario by Arif Jinha

The federal budget of January 2009 allocated almost $2 billion toward social housing, reversing a trend of funding cuts to social housing policies and programs. What will happen once the one-time stimulus spending is complete?

Jinha argues that the crisis creates opportunities to think in a longer-term way about social housing in Canada. As he puts it: “The recession has created an opportunity to give voice to progressive policies in order to make the argument that the government does have a role in the economy…. whether this situation provokes change for the better is up to the public. Past recessions have brought either more of the same or forks in the road.”

Read more of what Jinha has to say about stimulus spending so far.

Is home ownership really the answer for low- and middle-income Canadian households? In April 2005, the federal and provincial governments jointly invested $734 million in the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program (COAHP), committing $28.37 million to the Homeownership Component. The goal of the Homeownership Component was to help 20,000 low- to moderate-income households transition from renting to ownership through assisted down payments.

Homeownership has been actively promoted politically in many countries; however, the evidence of its sustainability in low-income households is discouraging and the social benefits are unproven. Given the lack of evidence, is homeownership too much of a risk for low-income households? Since social housing tenants are targeted, could such programs concentrate poverty, and is the program goal of reducing waiting lists for social housing realistic?

Click here to read Helen Looker’s findings.

Social housing in Canada has gone through substantial changes over the past two decades; in the early 1990s, administration (and most financing as well) devolved completely from federal to provincial governments and, in Ontario, to the municipal level.How have social housing administrators adapted their practices within these models? And what are the strengths and weaknesses experienced in each of them? Are there certain aspects of social housing that would be best dealt with at a provincially centralized level and others that would benefit from aspects of decentralization?

Click here to read Schuk’s findings.

Visit SHSC website for full text of these and other Social Housing Research Internship and Scholar Program papers.

Although Ontario’s ban on hand-held devices while driving became effective on October 26, 2009, there was a three-month transition period during which the government and the police focused on educating motorists about the ban rather than imposing fines. This has now ended and police started to issue tickets on February 1, 2010.

What does this mean to you?

While the use of hand-held cell phones and communications devices is banned, hands-free devices are still permitted. What does this mean to you? If you allow your employees to use hand-held devices while driving, you could be held vicariously liable in the event of an accident. This means that a Court could rule that you must pay damages resulting from your employee’s distracted driving.

The best way to protect yourself as an employer is to create and implement a clear and concise policy regarding the use of hand-held electronic devices, and to enforce it consistently across your organization. For information on the Government of Ontario’s ban on hand-held devices, you may refer to their website: www.ontario.ca. For more risk management tips, watch for our Risky Business newsletter.

Everyone makes mistakes. As customers, we get to be on the receiving end of those mistakes more often than we’d like – whether it’s the misplaced courier package, the car-repair estimate that came in far lower than the actual invoice, or the hotel reservation that mysteriously disappeared, things go wrong. It’s a fact of life.

What does this have to do with social housing? Well, you might not think of yourself as a service professional, but if you work with people you’re part of the service industry. They are your customers. And that means that you will make mistakes that affect others. That’s OK. Refer to paragraph one: “Everyone makes mistakes.” The trick is in knowing how to deal with them. That’s where service recovery comes in.

Service recovery is, quite simply, a set of actions that are taken to correct mistakes. Such actions can go a long way in improving the relationships you have with your residents, staff, contractors, board members….pretty much everyone!

Although every situation is unique, following these basic rules will help you to turn even the most unpleasant service experience around:

1. The most important aspect of service recovery is to acknowledge  your mistake. Apologize. This seems so simple, yet it’s one of the most difficult aspects of customer service to master. Why? Most of us are loath to apologize for something we didn’t actually do. Why say sorry because the elevator is broken? You didn’t break it!Well, no – perhaps you did not actually break the elevator, but you can apologize for the inconvenience.
2. Don’t make excuses or blame someone else. The absolute worst thing you can do is to try to deflect responsibility to someone, or something, else.Let’s say you promised a resident that the community room would be available for him or her to have a get-together. Unfortunately you forgot that you’d previously booked the room for an outside group’s committee meeting. It’s Wednesday at 7:00 and both groups are having a stand-off in the hallway.Your first reaction might be to point a finger at someone else or, even worse, at one of them. Don’t! At the moment you have a potentially volatile situation, and an opportunity to repair some damage.
3. Offer an alternative solution. Depending on the situation, you might be able to substitute a product or service for what was offered.  Be accountable for what happened.OK, so maybe there aren’t a lot of alternatives when the elevator is down. But you could offer to store a tenant’s perishables in your fridge rather than make them carry all of their groceries up the stairs. Or perhaps you turn the situation into a community event, where neighbours help neighbours until the elevator is repaired. The point is to be creative.How about the situation with the community room? Well, maybe there is another space available for one of the groups to meet. Or the committee meeting might only take a half-hour, leaving time for the other group to get together after. You may not be able to come up with an ideal solution, but anything is better than leaving the 2 groups yelling at each other, and at you.

Here are a few more things to keep in mind:

• Ask questions. Often, when confronted with a less-than-ideal situation, our first response is to “satisfy” the customer and move on. Unfortunately we forget to find out what the client needs, and instead offer what we think will make them happy. Bad move. Making assumptions is probably what got us into trouble in the first place.
• Empathise. Let your customer know that you would feel the same way in his or her shoes.
• Don’t take it personally! Taking pride in your product or service is a good thing – arrogance is not.

And if all else fails, breathe deeply. Ultimately the effort is worth the reward.

Speaking at the Canadian Urban Institute’s breakfast seminar on January 13, Dr. J. David Hulchanski, one of Toronto Neighbourhoods Research Network’s conveners and professor in the Faculty of Social Work, spoke on the issue of Toronto’s growing income gap.

Hulchanski’s research, posits three “cities” that make up Toronto based on income level. The middle income “city” is getting smaller with every census count, the top is predominantly “white” as self-identified in the census, and the low income “city” comprises 40 per cent of the city’s population and is composed of:

• 34 per cent self-identifying as “white”
• 12 per cent “black”
• 15 per cent “Chinese”
• 20 per cent “Asian”
• And 19 per cent “other”

Hulchanski noted that these figures continue to point towards growing inequality by geography and he recommends all levels of government should continue to emphasize the importance of putting neightbourhoods on the public policy agenda. His specific recommendations included inclusionary zoning, rental housing rehabilitation, and redirecting the provincial share of land transfer tax to municipalities.

There are other reports that support Hulchanski’s findings as well, including Poverty By Postal Code, a report prepared jointly by United Way of Greater Toronto and the Canadian Council on Social Development. This report also illustrates the income gap is widening in Toronto and neighbourhood poverty has intensified. Their recommendations include creating employment and retraining opportunities and making housing affordable in all areas of the city.

You can download more detailed information about Hulchanski’s research from the Centre for Urban & Community Studies website.