C-2051453Charles III2025An Act to amend the National Housing Strategy ActAn Act to amend the National Housing Strategy Act20256

10

Ms. Kwan451032

SUMMARYThis enactment amends the National Housing Strategy Act to require that the National Housing Strategy include measures to prevent the removal of homeless encampments on federal land and to identify alternatives to encampments. It also seeks to ensure that Indigenous peoples are involved and supported in determining and developing housing programs that affect them, and that responses to homeless encampments respect their rights. Finally, it specifies information to be included in the triennial report respecting the effectiveness of the Strategy.

PreambleWhereas the Government of Canada has declared that its housing policy includes the recognition of the right to adequate housing as a fundamental human right and supports the progressive realization of that right;And whereas Parliament recognizes that taking into account key principles of a human rights-based approach to housing is needed to address the systemic causes of homelessness and, specifically, to address the challenges faced by the inhabitants of homeless encampments;Now, therefore, His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:2019, c. 29, s. 313National Housing Strategy Act

1Section 2 of the National Housing Strategy Act is replaced by the following:

Definitions2The following definitions apply in this Act.federal land means land that belongs to His Majesty in right of Canada, or that His Majesty in right of Canada has the power to dispose of, and all waters on and airspace above that land. (territoire domanial)homeless encampment means an outdoor settlement of one or more temporary structures, such as tents, vehicles or other structures that are not designed or intended for permanent human habitation but that one or more persons experiencing homelessness use as their residence. (campement d’itinérants)Indigenous peoples has the meaning assigned by the definition aboriginal peoples of Canada in subsection 35(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982. (peuples autochtones)Minister means the Minister designated under section 3. (ministre)

2Section 4 of the Act is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (c), by adding “and” at the end of paragraph (d) and by adding the following after paragraph (d):(e)further its commitment to implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in relation to the active involvement of Indigenous peoples in determining and developing housing programs that affect them.

3Subsection 5(2) of the Act is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (c) and by replacing paragraph (d) with the following:(d)provide for participatory processes, including terms of reference for those processes, to ensure the ongoing inclusion and engagement of civil society, stakeholders, vulnerable groups, Indigenous peoples, persons with lived experience of housing need and persons with lived experience of homelessness;(e)establish measures to prevent the removal of homeless encampments on federal land and to identify alternatives to homeless encampments following meaningful engagement with their residents; and(f)provide for processes to ensure that Indigenous peoples are actively involved and supported in determining and developing culturally appropriate housing-related programs and that responses to homeless encampments respect their rights.Consultation(3)For the purposes of establishing the measures referred to in paragraph (2)(e) and providing for the processes referred to in paragraph (2)(f), the Minister must consult with representatives of the provincial governments responsible for matters related to housing and must consult and collaborate with a variety of organizations that represent the interests of Indigenous peoples.

4Subsection 8(3) of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (a):(a.1)Indigenous peoples;

5Paragraph 13(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:(a)monitor the implementation of the housing policy and assess its impact on persons who are members of vulnerable groups, Indigenous peoples, persons with lived experience of housing need and persons with lived experience of homelessness;

6Subsection 16.2(2) of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (a):(a.1)Indigenous peoples;

7Section 18 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):Effectiveness measures and data(1.1)The report must include(a)success metrics that are developed in consultation and collaboration with a variety of organizations that represent the interests of Indigenous peoples; and(b)longitudinal data, disaggregated to the extent possible by groups, including each of the groups referred to in paragraph 13(a).