Housing Policy for Tomorrow's Cities

Abstract

It is now widely acknowledged that Canada’s cities need help if they are to reach their economic potential and offer a high quality of life to their citizens. Indeed, there is growing evidence that social and economic conditions have deteriorated for many urban citizens, the most vulnerable being single-parent families, Aboriginal people, recent immigrants, visible minorities, elderly women, and the disabled. Major questions remain as to what kind of help the cities need and from whom. And here much attention has turned to the federal government, even though the constitution says that municipalities are the “creatures ” of the provinces, and most provinces guard this role jealously. To help clarify the potential roles for Ottawa, CPRN commissioned four papers. The first four focus on urban poverty, immigration, Aboriginal people, and housing. A fifth provides an overview of the ideas in the first four papers, and includes the reflections of a diverse group of Canadians from many sectors who participated in a Roundtable. Each of the papers provides a summary of the state of knowledge in their area and then sets out possible actions for the federal government. All four papers point to the challenges of governance of our cities. And, despite the