
Home Truths
Fixing Canada's Housing Crisis
Carolyn Whitzman(Author)
University of British Columbia Press
Published on 21. October 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-0-7748-9070-0 (ISBN)
Description
This is the book that Canadians must read to understand, and solve, our housing crisis. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians exist on the edge. Renters fear eviction, homeowners feel trapped, and both are vulnerable to becoming homeless with a single stroke of misfortune.
Unaffordable housing in Canada is tearing communities apart. Rising prices force long-time residents to move elsewhere, while established businesses are forced to close their doors because they cannot find staff who can afford to live nearby.
In Home Truths, housing expert Carolyn Whitzman explores Canada's crisis from all sides, including defining what adequate housing looks like, explaining why nonmarket housing is crucial for Canada, and outlining how and why to tackle ever-growing wealth disparities between renters and those who own. She details the decades of policy that got us into this mess and shows how all levels of government can work together to provide affordable housing where it is needed, using evidence-backed ideas from planners, politicians, developers, and advocates at home and abroad.
Unaffordable housing in Canada is tearing communities apart. Rising prices force long-time residents to move elsewhere, while established businesses are forced to close their doors because they cannot find staff who can afford to live nearby.
In Home Truths, housing expert Carolyn Whitzman explores Canada's crisis from all sides, including defining what adequate housing looks like, explaining why nonmarket housing is crucial for Canada, and outlining how and why to tackle ever-growing wealth disparities between renters and those who own. She details the decades of policy that got us into this mess and shows how all levels of government can work together to provide affordable housing where it is needed, using evidence-backed ideas from planners, politicians, developers, and advocates at home and abroad.
Reviews / Votes
"Home Truths succeeds in pulling the best ideas from around the world. Taken together, it is a roadmap for an alternative vision for housing in Canada where everyone can afford a home."- Jack McClelland (Perspectives) "Much of Canada is facing a housing affordability crisis...this crisis-and how to address it-is at the core of Carolyn Whitzman's latest book, Home Truths: Fixing Canada's Housing Crisis."
- Ximena Gonzalez (Alberta Views) "Carolyn Whitzman's Home Truths will likely be one of the most-quoted books on housing in the months ahead."
- Planner's Bookshelf (Canadian Planning & Policy Journal)
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Vancouver
Canada
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
16 b&w photos, 7 graphs, 5 illus., 4 tables
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
399 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7748-9070-0 (9780774890700)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Carolyn Whitzman is a leading housing and senior policy researcher. She helped develop the Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) project based at the University of British Columbia. She has authored, coauthored, or lead-edited six previous books, the most recent being Clara at the Door with a Revolver. She has undertaken research for the Office of the Federal Housing Advocate, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa, and many other organizations. She lives in Ottawa.
Content
Introduction
1 What Is a Home?
2 How Did We Get in This Mess?
3 Who's in Charge?
4 Who Needs What Homes Where, at What Cost?
5 Can Canada End Homelessness?
6 Why Start with NonMarket Housing?
7 Can Housing Become Abundant Again?
8 How Can Renters Have the Same Rights As Owners?
9 Is There a Future for Affordable Home Ownership?
10 Who Should Pay?
11 What Can We Do?
Appendix; Notes; Index
1 What Is a Home?
2 How Did We Get in This Mess?
3 Who's in Charge?
4 Who Needs What Homes Where, at What Cost?
5 Can Canada End Homelessness?
6 Why Start with NonMarket Housing?
7 Can Housing Become Abundant Again?
8 How Can Renters Have the Same Rights As Owners?
9 Is There a Future for Affordable Home Ownership?
10 Who Should Pay?
11 What Can We Do?
Appendix; Notes; Index