Housing First Programs in Alberta and the Right to Housing

This thesis examined the extent to which Housing First (HF) programs in Alberta realize the right to adequate housing. HF provides chronically homeless people with access to permanent housing and separate support services. In Alberta, HF has been central to provincial and municipal responses to homelessness since 2008. The rise of HF within public policy appears to be consistent with the principle that everyone has a right to housing, and that the state has a corresponding duty to make housing accessible and affordable to all. Conversely, chronic homelessness is a severe breach of the right to housing, associated with stigmatization, loss of dignity, and threats to health and survival. However, almost no research has directly examined if and how HF programs are rights-oriented, even though the right to housing has been identified as an important premise of the model. This research considered whether HF in Alberta is practiced in a way that is consistent with international human rights principles. To do so, it adapted Fukuda-Parr’s (2006) framework for measuring the realization of human rights through four key principles: non-discrimination, participation, adequate progress and remedy. The specific objectives of this research were: (1) To investigate the degree of non-discrimination in HF programs’ practices and processes, including in criteria for assessing client eligibility and priority; (2) To assess the level of client participation within HF programs’ processes and procedures; (3) To consider whether and how HF programs ensure adequate progress towards the goal of ending homelessness, for example through benchmarking and intermediate targets, in light of contextual challenges; (4) To examine HF programs’ accountability and effectiveness in providing remedy to clients whose right to housing is being violated, whether by internal or external factors. The extent to which these principles were fulfilled served as an indicator of whether HF programs respect, protect, and fulfill the right to housing – duties which are imposed by human rights law through international treaties. Data were collected through qualitative interviews with 25 key informants working in the HF sector in Edmonton, Calgary, and Fort McMurray. Relevant data were then assigned deductively into Fukuda-Parr’s categories before inductive thematic analysis was conducted within each category. Key findings were as follows. First, due to discriminatory and non-participatory processes, not all HF clients have their right to housing equally respected. Despite the commendable efforts of staff and their inherent respect for clients’ dignity, Indigenous clients, clients with very high or low acuity, and violent clients experience exclusion and delays in their housing process. Second, the duty to protect the right to housing effectively is partly adhered to. HF programs’ processes and staff were able to prevent forced evictions and provide a legal remedy in case of forced evictions. However, graduation requirements within programs were recognized as severely counterproductive; when graduation occurs prematurely, it increases the risk of eviction, rather than protecting the realization of the right for clients in the long-term. Third, HF programs’ duty to fulfill the right to adequate housing in a timely, effective and non-discriminatory manner was not fulfilled. This was due to a combination of internal and external factors, including discriminatory processes, insufficient training for staff, premature graduation expectations, and insufficient financial support from the government. These findings should inform new (or reformed) versions of HF practice that are rights-affirming and put pressure on provincial and federal governments to support HF programs to the best of their ability. This is important and timely because the National Housing Strategy, which aims to halve homelessness in 10 years, commits Canada to progressively implementing the right to housing, and articulates that “every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable home” (Government of Canada, 2017, p4).

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