Human rights groups call for increased welfare rates, protection of the right to food

On any given night, 35,000 people in Canada will be homeless; thousands will have no other option than to live in parks and other public spaces. Despite this reality, many jurisdictions prohibit homeless people from taking basic steps to survive like setting up a tent, tarp, or box. These makeshift shelters do not constitute adequate housing, but as long as people face homelessness, they should not be harassed, ticketed, or displaced by law enforcement just for trying to stay safe. We are fighting to end the criminalization of homeless people by challenging discriminatory laws and law enforcement practices that violate human rights, perpetuate stigma and prevent homeless people from taking steps to save their own lives. We cannot end homelessness in Canada while treating homeless people as criminals.

At Pivot we believe housing must be treated as a fundamental human right, rather than a privilege or a commodity. As such we challenge laws, policies, and practices that discriminate against and criminalize people who are unhoused and/or precariously housed. Our work further requires that we target the intersection between housing injustice and other forms of social injustice, while advocating to expand the parameters of what makes housing adequate.