Bill C-205, An Act to amend the National Housing Strategy Act, would amend that Act; it would not create a separate law or agency. Its stated goal is to make the National Housing Strategy address homeless encampments and Indigenous peoples’ involvement in housing programs. The supplied material does not establish whether the bill has become law, so these are proposed changes.
The Strategy would have to include measures to prevent the removal of homeless encampments on federal land and identify alternatives after meaningful engagement with residents.
The Strategy would also have to provide processes for Indigenous peoples to be actively involved and supported in developing culturally appropriate housing programs, and for responses to encampments to respect their rights.
The Minister would have to consult provincial housing representatives, and consult and collaborate with organizations representing Indigenous peoples, when establishing those measures and processes.
The Strategy would have to provide for ongoing participation by civil society, vulnerable groups, Indigenous peoples and people with lived experience of housing need or homelessness.
The Minister’s triennial report would have to include success measures developed with Indigenous organizations and long-term data, broken down by groups as far as possible.
People living in encampments on federal land: The Strategy would need measures aimed at preventing removals and alternatives identified after meaningful engagement with residents. This does not itself guarantee that an encampment cannot be removed, or that an alternative home or site will be available.
Indigenous peoples: The Strategy would have to provide for active involvement and support in developing culturally appropriate housing programs, and for encampment responses to respect Indigenous peoples’ rights. The Minister would have to consult and collaborate with organizations representing Indigenous peoples.
Provincial housing representatives: The Minister would have to consult them when establishing the encampment measures and Indigenous-related processes.
People whose housing experiences are reported on: The triennial report would have to include long-term data broken down by groups, including Indigenous peoples and people with lived experience of housing need or homelessness, to the extent possible.
The public: The bill would not, in the supplied text, set up a new housing service, create an individual entitlement to housing, or provide a direct process for residents to apply for protection from removal.
The supplied material does not include the current National Housing Strategy Act, so the existing rules and how these amendments would interact with them could not be verified.
The bill does not define “meaningful engagement,” “alternatives,” or what measures to prevent removals must contain.
It does not set out how residents would be engaged, who would decide what alternatives are identified, or whether those alternatives must be available before a removal.
It does not specify how Indigenous peoples or their representative organizations would be selected or involved in practice.
It does not give a start date or establish whether the bill has become law.
The bill appears intended to make the Strategy address the circumstances of people living in encampments on federal land, rather than leave encampment responses out of housing planning.
Requiring engagement with residents before identifying alternatives could help ensure those alternatives reflect residents’ circumstances.
Involving Indigenous peoples in developing culturally appropriate programs could make the Strategy more responsive to the communities affected.
Long-term, group-based reporting could help show how the Strategy affects different groups, if the data can be collected.