An Act to amend the National Housing Strategy Act

Bill C-205 makes several changes to the National Housing Strategy Act, the law that sets out how the federal government approaches housing policy. It adds formal definitions of "federal land," "homeless encampment," and "Indigenous peoples" to the Act, and requires that the National Housing Strategy include specific measures to prevent the removal (demolition or clearing) of homeless encampments located on federal land, and to identify realistic alternatives to these encampments, developed only after meaningful engagement with the people living in them.

The bill also strengthens the role of Indigenous peoples in federal housing policy. It requires the government to further its commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by actively involving Indigenous peoples in designing housing programs that affect them, and requires that any response to homeless encampments respect Indigenous rights. Before creating the encampment-related measures or Indigenous engagement processes, the Minister must consult with provincial governments responsible for housing and with organizations representing Indigenous peoples' interests.

Additionally, the bill adds Indigenous peoples to the list of groups whose circumstances must be considered by the National Housing Council and reflected in ongoing monitoring of housing policy. Finally, it expands what must be included in the triennial report on the effectiveness of the National Housing Strategy, requiring success metrics developed together with Indigenous organizations, and longitudinal data broken down by group (including vulnerable groups, Indigenous peoples, and people with lived experience of housing need or homelessness), so Parliament and the public can better track how well the strategy is working over time.

This bill amends the National Housing Strategy Act to require the National Housing Strategy to include measures preventing removal of homeless encampments on federal land, processes for Indigenous involvement in housing programs, and additional content in the triennial effectiveness report.

• New definitions — "federal land," "homeless encampment," and "Indigenous peoples" (using the Constitution Act, 1982 definition) are written into the Act, fixing which encampments and lands the new duties apply to.
• Required content of the Strategy — the Minister designated under the Act must ensure the Strategy establishes measures to prevent removal of homeless encampments on federal land and identify alternatives, following "meaningful engagement" with residents; the bill does not define what counts as meaningful engagement, leaving that discretionary.
• Consultation duty — before setting these encampment measures or Indigenous-related processes, the Minister must consult provincial governments responsible for housing and consult and collaborate with organizations representing Indigenous peoples' interests; no mechanism is specified for resolving disagreement or for verifying consultation occurred.
• Indigenous participation processes — the Strategy must provide for processes ensuring Indigenous peoples are "actively involved and supported" in developing culturally appropriate housing programs, and that encampment responses "respect their rights," without defining enforcement or remedy if this is not done.
• Advisory and reporting bodies — existing bodies under sections 8 and 16.2 of the Act must now include Indigenous peoples among their members/representation, and monitoring under section 13 must assess policy impacts on Indigenous peoples specifically.
• Triennial report contents — the report on the Strategy's effectiveness must now include success metrics developed with Indigenous organizations and longitudinal data disaggregated by group where possible; no independent audit or penalty for incomplete reporting is stated.