Joint submission to the National Housing Council’s Neha Review Panel
West Coast LEAF and Society for Narcotic and Opioid Wellness (SNOW) have made a joint submission to the National Housing Council’s Neha Review Panel on the right to safe, adequate and affordable housing for women, Two Spirit, Trans, and gender-diverse people, and the Government of Canada’s duty to uphold this right.
The submission focuses on access to a safe, adequate, and gender-sensitive emergency shelter system as a critical component of the right to adequate housing in Canada. It draws on knowledge and recommendations from West Coast LEAF and SNOW’s community survey on emergency shelters in BC’s Peace Region. The survey reveals the disproportionate and severe impacts of inadequate access to emergency shelters on women, Two Spirit, Trans, and gender-diverse people, especially those who are also affected by colonialism, racism, ableism, and/or other axes of marginalization.
Our submission makes three recommendations to the Government of Canada to help realize the vision of a safe, adequate and gender-sensitive emergency shelter system in BC and across Canada:
- Endorse the creation of national emergency shelter standards, including spaces free from discrimination and mandatory reporting to “child protection” agencies, discrimination that offer trauma-informed wrap-around services led by input from impacted communities.
- Collaborate with provincial, territorial, First Nations, and local governments to build and resource emergency shelter spaces to ensure that new emergency shelter spaces are meeting the diverse needs of community members, including the particular needs of women, Two Spirit, Trans, and gender-diverse people.
- Ensure the funding of a continuum of housing options to meet diverse housing needs. In providing this funding, the Government of Canada must ensure that there are clear pathways out of the emergency shelter system and into long- term housing solutions, including transitional or second-stage housing.
Read the full submission. (PDF, 418 KB)