A Portable Housing Benefit as an Indispensable Component of Ending Homelessness in Canada

The policy brief, A Portable Housing Benefit as an Indispensable Component of Ending Homelessness in Canada, describes why PHB is a critical part of services delivered by Housing First programs to assist people who have experienced chronic or episodic homelessness to become stably housed. The policy brief also presents the research that has demonstrated its effectiveness, along with a set of recommendations. 

Current challenges in implementing a PHB in Canada include:
  • the need to make it available to people experiencing homelessness;
  • marked inconsistencies across communities in its implementation; and
  • a lack of coordination across different levels of government and different government ministries.
Our recommendations include:
  1. the development of a national PHB, and one that is explicitly linked with a 10-­year plan to end chronic homelessness;
  2. the integration of federal and provincial policies regarding a PHB so that they areclear, consistent, coordinated, and coherent;
  3. the integration of policy for a PHB among ministries within Ontario so that the implementation of a PHB is clear, consistent, coordinated, and coherent; and
  4. the creation of PHBs available through the Homelessness Partnering Strategy
Publication Date: 
2017
Location: 
Canada