Understanding how affordable housing approaches impact tenant outcomes

Governments tend to use distinct forms of affordable housing provision interchangeably. For instance, an individual or family waiting for housing might be offered a public unit or a portable housing benefit. What is unknown, however, is which of these approaches generates the best outcomes for tenants.

The People, Places, Policies and Prospects research partnership is serving to fill that gap in the evidence. A national interdisciplinary team of researchers and organizations collects data and highlights trends related to affordable housing. They generate region-specific findings about affordable rental housing that are focused on sub-populations, such as youth, and leverage data collected at a national level. The program’s goal is to create a unified, pan-Canadian understanding of affordable housing approaches and tenant outcomes.

Project scope and expected outcomes

Replacing best guesses with data and insight

Although governments generally treat affordable housing approaches as interchangeable, there’s no evidence about which, if any, produce the best outcomes. Without that data, policy decisions about housing provision are based on best guesses and good intentions.

The People, Places, Policies and Prospects research partnership will collect data and generate insight about affordable housing approaches. It will explore a central question: how do affordable rental housing approaches of different kinds affect the most vulnerable Canadians? It considers outcomes of different affordable rental approaches and the varying experiences of different groups. The goal is to replace best guess approaches with strategies informed by data and deep insight.

Developed and implemented in an interdisciplinary partnership

People, Places, Policies and Prospects is one of 5 research programs that comprise the Collaborative Housing Research Network. It has been developed and is being implemented in an interdisciplinary partnership with researchers and community organizations across the country. Participants have expertise in a wide range of areas, including housing studies, gender studies, sociology, geography and planning. Its partner organizations are involved in housing provision and policy development across Canada.

The People, Places, Policies and Prospects program will have 3 pillars of research during this extension period:

• The first will use the Canadian Housing Survey to highlight trends related to affordable housing approaches and their impact. This will add to and expand on our previous research goals of producing a national-level understanding of the role of affordable rental housing in Canada and its effect on those in greatest need.
• In keeping with the National Housing Strategy’s GBA+ lens that is woven throughout all our research, the second pillar will include research dedicated to understanding feminist housing approaches using a multi-national scope.
• The third pillar will involve several cross-regional and regional initiatives throughout Saskatoon, Ottawa and Cape Breton Regional Municipality that will focus on research gaps and solutions, incorporating unique goals of our community partners.

Participants in the regional and cross-regional projects are being asked a standard set of questions, using a data collection tool that our team developed during the first 5 years of funding. Additional questions will be asked based on partner interests and needs.

Data collection methods will vary by project. Methodology will expand on the tools designed during the first 5 years, refining some designs already used as well as implementing new ones.

A 3-year national and multi-national research plan

Expanding on and adding to the extensive research we have conducted in our first 5 years, our program has several key research objectives for the 3-year renewal period:

• Continue to develop a comprehensive understanding of the scale and scope of affordable rental housing provision across the country. This includes which kinds of approaches are used, where and for whom.
• We will continue to bring forth new evidence on how tenant outcomes and experiences may differ based on the affordable rental housing approach provided. This includes public housing and market rentals subsidized through housing allowances and supplements, and subsidized, non-profit and co-operative housing.
• We will continue to examine the outcomes and experiences of marginalized tenants living in affordable rental housing at a national level, expanding on the work completed during the first phase of our partnership grant. Projects will focus on structural determinants of health and housing, and housing quality and stability by rental housing type. We will analyze the Indigenous data contained within the Canadian Housing Survey, under the leadership of Indigenous scholars on our team and in partnership with Indigenous data stewards in community. We will also build a comprehensive profile that describes the housing outcomes and experiences of young renters across Canada.
• We will continue to produce new knowledge on how neighbourhood conditions and policy environments affect tenant experiences and outcomes. This includes feelings of safety, neighbourhood-level poverty, lack of amenities and services, and legal systems.
• New research on feminist housing commons will draw on both theoretical and practical implications as co-operatives and other collective forms of housing become increasingly relevant in the context of the National Housing Strategy. The GBA+ frame will continue to inform all our research and understanding of the experiences and effects of rental housing on different groups. This includes LGBTQ2S+ individuals, single mothers, and women and their families. GBA+ analysis will also be used to examine intersections with other social identities, such as racialization, Indigeneity and disability.
• Regional and cross-regional projects will address additional gaps in research identified by community partners. Projects include research on Indigenous-led housing options and the potential return to community in Membertou First Nation, applied research on the application of international housing policies in the Canadian context, and understanding different rental housing options for people with disabilities.

These objectives will be pursued over a 3-year national and multi-national research plan.

An original Canadian knowledge base

The program is contributing to an original Canadian knowledge base about affordable rental housing approaches and tenant outcomes, expanding on the extensive research conducted during the first 5 years. This work informs all other Collaborative Housing Research Network nodes. For instance, it will generate results on Northern housing and on tenants living in non-profit and co-operative rentals. It also complements the community-level focus of the Balanced Supply of Housing node with a comprehensive range of tenant-level outcomes.

The team continues to work closely with the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative (CHEC) hub. This helps to ensure that findings are effectively and widely shared.