The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) recently published Mending Canada’s frayed social safety net: The role of municipal governments, a report that has attracted praise and support from a variety of quarters. The report highlights the pressing need for municipalities to expand and strengthen Canada’s social infrastructure to protect limited income individuals who become increasingly vulnerable during times of economic recession.

Mending Canada's Frayed Social Safety Net

Mending Canada’s frayed social safety net looks at the growing need for municipalities to fill the gap in social services left by the reduction of provincial and federal funding. Its findings are based on data from the Quality of Life Reporting System (QLRS), a joint initiative between twenty-four Canadian municipalities. The aim of the QLRS model is to emphasize the central role that municipalities occupy in relation to ending poverty. A key finding of the report is that while the need for social services has increased, investments in social services have declined. Furthermore, the report recommends that the federal government help municipalities meet pressing social services and physical infrastructure needs through funding from the GST refund, Gas Tax Fund, and infrastructure programs.

While FCM’s report does not offer specific new recommendations for social housing – it is not a housing-focused paper – it recognizes social housing as a core component of the Canada’s social safety net. In addition, of the twenty-four QLRS communities surveyed for the report, an average of 60 out of 1000 homes were social housing units. A consequence of this comparative study has been the creation of social housing-specific stress indicators. These stress indicators are attached to problems found within affordable housing such as housing waiting lists, and the unmet demand for new housing stock as a means of demonstrating the faltering health of affordable housing.

In spite of its national focus, the paper is relevant to Ontario’s social housing sector due to the province’s devolution of social housing in the year 2000 to municipal governments and the resulting financial issues and lack of resources facing Ontario municipalities.

Want to read more? Download the SHSC research paper Affordable Housing in Perilous Times on this issue and the need for provincial and federal support.