THIS EPISODE: What We’ve Learned About Evictions
The Balanced Supply of Housing research node was formed to imagine real, working solutions to the housing crisis in Canada. But the first step to solving a problem is understanding it.
We’ve covered many issues with this special series, but the issue we keep returning to is security of tenure (or lack thereof). The BSH has completed various studies into evictions since its inception — why they happen, how, who they impact, and the outcomes — and now they’ve brought all their evidence, data, and recommendations together into a free book for anyone to access.
University of British Columbia Professor Alexandra Flynn and BSH Research Manager Alina McKay return to The Overhead to tell us about the evictions book, a digital tool for comparing tenants’ rights from province to province, and breaking the taboo of talking about evictions.
Here’s Alex:
The majority of evictions are happening through no fault of the tenant… And yet it’s true: it does seem extremely taboo. If you’ve been somebody who’s been subject to eviction, it’s like you’ve robbed a bank, you’ve done something wrong, when it’s a failure of policy. And it’s especially acute because there is so much tied to having a good income and being able to be housed it’s like, if you’re not, you have failed.
What do we know about evictions in Canada?
Listen here for The Overhead:
