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.

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The Homeownership Component of the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program:
Critical Analysis of Program Objectives by Helen Looker

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.

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Overcoming Challenges in Centralized and Decentralized Housing Models:
Ontario and British Columbia Compared by Carla Schuk

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.

I was fortunate to be able to chair a session at the ONPHA conference on Sunday entitled Recruitment and Retention: Changing the “Image” of Social Housing. Our presenters for this session were excellent, but the real stars of the show were the conference participants that asked some great questions and offered insightful feedback.

One of the best ideas was to establish an undergraduate housing essay competition. Not only would this motivate students at the undergraduate level to think and write about housing, it would also be an excellent public relations opportunity for a sector that could use a bit of good press. A bursary for students in financial need studying housing could also work in the same way. For the past three years SHSC has helped to fund and manage a research internship program for MA and PhD level students. You can see their work here.

A number of participants also mentioned the importance of involving tenants in the operation of their own housing. Who better to manage housing than someone who knows the place from the inside? This is a model that has quite a bit of traction in the UK (eg. Tenant Participation Advisory Service, Tenant Services Authority) and something that we could definitely use more of in Canada.

Fittingly, the conference wrapped up with awards for a group of tenants that had made outstanding contributions where they live. One of GLOBE’s Community Champions, Lynn Wood from Richview Residence, received an award.

If you have some examples of how tenants have made where they live a great place to live, or if you have ideas on how we can further engage tenants in the provision of housing, post a comment!