Fund Housing First in Vancouver

AI summary

The petitioners say thousands of people in Vancouver lack permanent housing and that the Downtown Eastside is affected by trauma, poverty, mental-health challenges, addiction, discrimination and inadequate housing. They cite a May 2026 Superior Court ruling that, according to the petitioners, signals governments must ensure access to safe, adequate housing, and call on the House of Commons to increase federal funding to British Columbia to prioritize a Housing First program and to fund at least 3,500 additional units over five years (1,000 supportive, 500 complex-care, 2,000 deeply affordable) with federal rent subsidies capped at one-third of net monthly income. The petition document does not include a government response.

AI summaries describe petitioners’ requests and claims. Consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

Petition to the House of Commons Thousands of people in Vancouver are living without permanent housing, including people living on the streets and in shelters; Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, known for its high concentration of people experiencing homelessness, is an entire community suffering trauma, poverty, mental health challenges, addiction, discrimination, stigma, and the consequences of inadequate housing; The recent landmark Superior Court Ruling, in May 2026, signals governments to take meaningful and proactive steps to ensure people have access to safe and adequate housing and the supports they need, without discrimination, and that courts can intervene when governments fail to meet these obligations; and Political will is necessary to create real change by providing the desperately needed funding to accelerate further the development and implementation of the Housing First Program. We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to: 1. Take immediate action to address the homelessness crisis in Vancouver, British Columbia by providing increased federal funding to the Province of British Columbia and its agencies to prioritize the Housing First Program; and 2. Commit this federal funding to increase the stock of adequate housing by at least 3,500 units over five years, to include: 1,000 supportive housing units, 500 complex-care housing units and 2,000 deeply affordable homes, with federal rent subsidies for deeply affordable rents of no more than 1/3 of net monthly income.

Government response

No government response is available yet.