Over the last several months, housing experts, stakeholders, and Canadians from all walks of life participated in “Let’s Talk Housing” consultations and shared their views to help shape a National Housing Strategy (NHS) that will strive to improve the lives of those in greatest need.

On the occasion of National Housing Day, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), today released a “What We Heard” from Canadians report.

This summary report takes stock of the consultations, identifies emerging themes and highlights exciting ideas to help define the future of housing in Canada.

The national consultations explored new and innovative ways of responding to persistent housing challenges, including ways to improve housing outcomes for Canadians as a cornerstone for achieving broader socio-economic objectives.

Quote

“Ensuring that Canadians have access to affordable housing, with all of the socio-economic benefits that come with it, is a key priority for the Government of Canada. The input and ideas we received from Canadians will be invaluable in helping to shape a National Housing Strategy that delivers better housing, socio-economic and environmental outcomes for all Canadians.”
— The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Quick Facts

• To ensure that we heard from people who have been homeless or are living in subsidized housing, newcomers to Canada and persons with disabilities, among others, focus groups were held across the country.

• The Government of Canada, through CMHC, sought the input of provinces and territories who held their own consultations, and provided their ideas on the future of housing in Canada. CMHC hosted a series of expert roundtables on themes ranging from housing finance and data to social inclusion and sustainability.

• CMHC also sought the advice and input of key national housing stakeholders, and held roundtables on rural, remote and urban Indigenous housing, as well as northern housing.

Online NHS Engagement Activities	Levelof Engagement
Let’sTalk Housing NHS Survey	6,351 completed surveys
Idea Sharing Platform	132 ideas submitted
OnlineWritten Submission Uploads	478 written submissions
Social Media Comments — #LetsTalkHousing	1905 ideas on social media

 

Targeted NHS Engagement Activities	Level of Engagement
Let’s Talk Housing Expert and Stakeholder Roundtables	22 roundtables
Focus Groups with Vulnerable Peoples	21 focus groups
Public Opinion Research	8 focus groups
MP Townhalls	10 Townhall meetings
Bilateral meetings and forums with Indigenous organizations	15 Bilateral meetings and forums