Housing

Recommendation 4: Relevant public bodies should continue to build additional affordable housing that offers a flexible and progressive range of supports, specifically designed for people with mental health or substance userelated disabilities. For example, a person should have the option to move from a group home with onsite staff to an apartment managed by a local mental health non-profit as their health and if they chose to do so.

Housing

Recommendation 5: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing should develop a neutral, easy-to-use process for tenants to identify and voice their tenancy and assistance needs, with a focus on clients that might experience disability-related barriers doing so on their own (for example, clients in supportive housing arrangements). The service should be contracted out to be delivered by a low-barrier community-based organization where people with disabilities already access services

Housing

Recommendation 6: The Attorney General should create a legal means to consider tenancy and anti-discrimination rights under the BC Human Rights Code when they are raised before the Residential Tenancy Branch. This could include a process for the BC Human Rights Tribunal to issue interim orders once a human rights complaint has been filed and amendments to the Residential Tenancy Act that allow for an interim delay in a residential tenancy dispute when such an interim order has been issued.

Disability assistance

Recommendation 7: Continue steps to simplify and improve the income and disability application processes with the Ministry’s own disability-related “daily living activities” (e.g., decision-making or communicating effectively with others, etc.) in mind. In particular, the application should only collect information that is necessary and relevant; avoid asking for the same information twice; and not focus solely on deficits, but allow applicants to identify positive qualities, abilities or activities such as volunteering without impacting eligibility.