On February 13, 2024, the Federal Housing Advocate released the final report and recommendations from her review of homeless encampments. The report, entitled Upholding dignity and human rights: the Federal Housing Advocate’s review of homeless encampments, is a call to action for an urgent national response to the human rights crisis facing people living in homeless encampments.
The Federal Housing Advocate is recommending that the federal government establish a National Encampments Response Plan by August 31, 2024. It is critical that this plan be rooted in a human rights-based approaches and that new resources are in place before next winter. Furthermore, the report calls for greater collaboration, coordination, and consistency from all governments.
The plan must drive urgent change that responds to the Calls to Action and detailed recommendations presented in this report and addressed to all governments in Canada. These recommendations have been developed as the result of extensive consultation with encampment residents, community organizations, and municipalities across the country.
This fact sheet is designed to highlight the Advocate’s recommendations directed at municipal governments.