Journey Home Society endorses ‘Vote Housing’ campaign

Sep 13, 2021 | 1:00 PM Pete McIntyre

The Central Okanagan Journey Home Society (COJHS) is endorsing ‘Vote Housing’, a national non-partisan campaign to end homelessness and make housing safe and affordable in Canada.

“Housing affordability is a key issue in our country that all Canadians should consider as they cast their ballot in the upcoming federal election,” said COJHS executive director Stephanie Gauthier. “More than 235,000 people in Canada experience homelessness each year. We encourage everyone in the Central Okanagan and all across the country to support parties and candidates who will meaningfully address housing issues.”

The Vote Housing Platform states that all political candidates and elected representatives must work together on:

An urban, rural, and northern Indigenous Housing Strategy.
Homelessness prevention.
The construction and operation of 50,000 units of supportive housing over 10 years.
Building a minimum of 300,000 units of deeply affordable non-market, co-op and non-profit housing over 10 years.
Making the right to housing a reality.
Reducing the impact of housing used for profit and investment purposes.
Addressing the unique needs of communities seeking equity.
Including people with lived experience in all levels of policy development and implementation.
Expanding rental assistance for low-income households.

“We’re in a situation where 530,000 renting households in Canada spend more than 50 percent of their income on rent, and where 27 percent of renters live in housing that they can’t afford, is overcrowded or is in need of major repairs,” Gauthier added. “We need our leaders to take bold action on housing. There has never been a better time for action, considering more than eight in 10 Canadians support building affordable housing as part of our pandemic recovery.”

Vote Housing is operated by the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) that leads a national movement of individuals, organizations and communities working together to end homelessness in Canada. The COJHS is part of that movement.

Visit votehousing.ca to learn more about the housing affordability crisis in Canada. For more information about the Central Okanagan Journey Home Society and the Journey Home Strategy, visit journeyhome.ca.