By Gord Moose | North of Polite
Opinion and analysis | October 2, 2026

Politicians can argue for another week about whose housing plan is better.

Someone sleeping in a vehicle has to get through tonight.

Someone living in an encampment has to keep their belongings dry, find somewhere safe to sleep and face another morning without a home.

For them, the housing crisis is the absence of a secure place to live.

A housing market can cool without becoming affordable. A price can fall and remain beyond a family’s reach. Slower rent growth does not necessarily mean the rent has gone down.

And none of those improvements automatically opens a door for someone who has already lost their housing.

Canadians need governments to turn plans into homes—and explain what happens to people while they wait.

The latest warning deserves attention

In an October 1 speech in Victoria, Bank of Canada senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers described Canada’s housing dilemma: high costs squeeze household budgets, while falling property values can reduce owners’ wealth and weaken economic activity.

She also emphasized that monetary policy is too blunt an instrument to solve affordability. Progress requires more supply, better planning and infrastructure, and care with incentives that increase demand in a market already short of housing.

Those economic risks deserve serious attention.

So does the person who cannot afford suitable shelter at all.

A successful housing strategy must improve people’s ability to secure a home.

Homelessness is not one story

We should stop discussing homelessness as though everyone reached it by the same route.

The federal Everyone Counts 2024 survey found that 36 per cent of respondents reported insufficient income as a contributor to their most recent housing loss. Reports linked to substance use were 14 per cent.

These figures describe reported contributors among surveyed people. They do not measure addiction prevalence or provide a complete explanation of everyone’s circumstances.

They nevertheless challenge the idea that homelessness can be explained simply by addiction.

Financial hardship, relationship breakdown and fleeing abuse are among the causes identified in research summarized by Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office.

Some people need affordable housing and sufficient income. Others also need disability support, health care or addiction treatment.

A vehicle can become someone’s last available shelter. A tent can become the place they return to each night.

Their circumstances differ. Their need for safety and dignity does not.

People with addictions deserve housing and care. People without addictions must not disappear behind the stereotype.

What happened to the earlier housing plans?

Canadians are entitled to ask this before applauding the next announcement.

The National Housing Strategy. The Rapid Housing Initiative. The Affordable Housing Fund. The Apartment Construction Loan Program. The Housing Accelerator Fund.

Federal reporting tracks these initiatives. The June 2026 National Housing Strategy report records $83.83 billion committed across the strategy as of June 30.

That is a commitment figure, not a count of completed homes or money spent entirely on new construction.

The fair question is what those commitments have achieved.

Which homes are finished and occupied?

Which remain under construction?

Which projects are delayed?

What do residents pay, and who can afford those costs?

How many people experiencing homelessness secured housing—and remained housed?

We should credit homes delivered and people helped. We should also identify gaps and delays.

An announcement deserves a follow-up, not permanent applause.

Accountability was already a concern

In its 2022 audit of chronic homelessness, the Auditor General found that the federal organizations examined did not know whether their efforts had improved housing outcomes for people experiencing homelessness and other vulnerable groups. It also found that CMHC did not know who was benefiting from its initiatives.

That finding concerns the period audited. It does not prove that every initiative failed or that reporting has remained unchanged.

It does establish why tracking outcomes matters.

Governments should demonstrate what improved after that warning—and what still needs correction.

A funding total tells us the scale of a commitment.

A person safely housed tells us something about its result.

Where does someone go tonight?

Federal Reaching Home directives recognize immediate access to permanent housing, with additional support where needed, as the approach to resolving homelessness. Housing First remains a federal priority for all funding streams, although it is not a core program requirement.

That principle needs a practical route.

Who helps someone find a home?

What happens if they lack identification, a deposit or enough income for available rentals?

Where can they stay safely while those obstacles are addressed?

What assistance helps them maintain the tenancy?

Emergency accommodation provides immediate protection. Governments must also explain how people move from it into lasting housing.

Where ongoing support is needed, the plan must fund services as well as buildings.

Opening a door matters. Helping someone keep it matters, too.

Who will build the promised homes?

CMHC’s Fall 2026 report estimates that Canada needs roughly 417,000 to 469,000 housing starts annually to restore 2019 affordability levels by 2036. Its projection under current trends is approximately 231,000 annually.

These are modelled estimates, not guarantees about construction or prices.

That scale requires a credible workforce plan.

The government’s Spring Economic Update proposes investing up to $6 billion over five years in Team Canada Strong. It describes a goal of recruiting, training and hiring 80,000 to 100,000 new Red Seal trades workers by 2030–31. These are announced investments and targets, not completed results.

How many apprentices can find employers and qualified supervision?

What helps them complete training?

How are experienced tradespeople retained?

How can qualified workers move between provinces and projects?

Training must produce competent workers, with safety protected.

An apprenticeship announcement does not wire an apartment. A trained electrician does.

What will they build with?

We should not assume every region faces identical material shortages. Prices, availability and delivery schedules vary.

Build Canada Homes says it will prioritize Canadian materials and modern methods, including factory-built housing, using predictable demand to help manufacturers expand production.

That approach should be judged on delivery.

Can suppliers provide the required components?

Can factories expand with confidence?

Are transportation, serviced land, utilities and installation crews ready?

Modern construction still needs a complete plan.

A modular home cannot connect itself to a sewer because the press release arrived early.

Give people a way to help build the solution

Could Canada offer willing participants a place to live, paid training and a pathway into the trades needed to build more homes?

Consider a voluntary civilian program that brings accommodation, meals, equipment, instruction and teamwork together. It could draw inspiration from the organized support associated with military training, while operating through colleges, unions, employers and housing providers.

Qualified supervision, recognized credentials and paid work would be essential.

Federal homelessness guidance already includes employment and training supports. The opportunity worth examining is whether those supports could connect more directly to construction careers.

Participation must be voluntary. Access to housing must remain available to people who cannot work or choose another path.

Losing a home does not erase someone’s skills, experience or capacity to learn.

A pilot should measure whether participants obtain qualifications, secure lasting employment and remain housed. It should also help people move into other work if construction proves unsuitable.

This is a proposal to test, not a claim that an existing program already delivers those results.

Could a modern homesteading option help?

Ottawa already has a Public Lands for Homes initiative and a Canada Public Land Bank. That does not establish an individual entitlement to a free plot or a homesteading program.

But governments could examine a small pilot offering suitable serviced plots or long-term leases to people willing and able to build modest homes.

Land alone would not make the scheme workable. Participants would need realistic financing, approved designs, technical assistance and access to services and livelihoods.

Any pilot would need to respect Indigenous rights, protect environmentally sensitive land and avoid placing people where they cannot support themselves.

Costs, eligibility and long-term affordability would need public scrutiny. Such an option would complement other housing measures; it could not replace immediate assistance for people sleeping outside.

Give willing people a practical opportunity—and test whether it produces homes they can afford and keep.

Debate the plans. Deliver the homes.

Political disagreement is legitimate. Canadians should scrutinize costs, priorities and competing proposals.

Every party should answer the same questions.

What will your plan deliver?

When will people move in?

Who can afford the homes?

What happens to someone sleeping outside before those homes are ready?

That standard belongs at the federal, provincial and municipal levels.

While politicians argue over who has the better plan, Canadians still have to survive without a home.

Some are in shelters. Some are in vehicles. Some are in encampments.

They need safe housing now, a realistic path to stability and opportunities suited to their circumstances.

Canada needs homes, qualified builders, dependable materials and accountable governments. It also needs the willingness to examine practical ideas beyond another round of announcements.

The measure of success is a safe home that someone can afford and keep.

Canadians cannot live in an announcement.

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