Housing As Social Assistance

Abstract

<div>This Major Research Paper conducted analysis of social housing policies and regulations in Ontario from 1993 to present. It was done to unearth the dominant discourses that informed social housing policies. Through a review of the Literature, a broader perspective will be had on social housing as well as social assistance, of which is deeply intertwined with social housing. The lack of a national strategy on social housing has caused Toronto to adopt a more entrepreneurial approach to housing, using public private partnerships, social mix revitalization initiatives, and other market and third sector influenced development mechanisms.</div><div><br></div><div>Social policy has been neoliberalized in Ontario at least since the advent of the ‘Common Sense Revolution’ in 1995, when a Conservative government was elected on a platform of neoliberal reform. Since then social housing has not been given the priority it deserves even with the changing of government and promises to address the lack of affordable housing in Toronto. These findings highlight difficulties on the part of Toronto to develop new affordable housing at</div><div>a time when the city continues to grow and demand for housing is increasing. The visibility of homelessness across the city suggest policy failures and a need to act, to address the problem of lack of affordable housing post haste.</div>