Recommendation 1: Prioritizing affordable housing is essential for poverty reduction and economic security of women experiencing violence.

This community needs assessment and review of the academic and grey literature clearly shows that women experiencing violence face many challenges to securing affordable housing, with the most foundational barrier being unaffordability of housing and chronic poverty. Women experiencing violence need to find housing that is actually affordable (no more than 30% of her income) so that they are able to avoid a cycle of poverty.

We recommend that all levels of government commit to building adequate and affordable housing that fits the needs of women and their children experiencing violence.

Recommendation 2: The National Occupancy Standards should not be used to exclude safe options for women experiencing violence.

As our research shows, the National Occupancy Standards are standing in the way of women accessing affordable units in social housing. Without affordable housing options, women may end up in unsafe situations. Furthermore, there is a common concern that MCFD may become involved due to the size of the unit a women is living in with her children or MCFD is unable to return children to the care of their mother from foster care because she is not able to obtain a big enough unit. The NOS are intended to address habitability and overcrowding issues but as applied as requirements by relevant housing and social service agencies, the unintended consequence is to keep women in unsafe circumstances and limit their freedom to access safe and affordable housing.

We recommend that CMHC clarify that the NOS are guidelines, not regulation and that safety should be established as the main priority for housing women and their children, not number of bedrooms.

As well, we recommend that MCFD educate their workforce so that the National Occupancy Standards are not used as justification for separating women and her children.