Federal Budget 2024 should advance the right to an adequate standard of living

In August 2023, Maytree made a submission to the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance with recommendations for the 2024 federal budget. In it we encouraged the Government of Canada to further the right to an adequate standard of living for all people in Canada by strengthening income supports, investing in affordable housing, and improving accountability for human rights.

This submission builds on our initial recommendations by:

• Providing more detail on the rights-based principles that should guide the development of the 2024 budget;
• Expanding on how the Canada Disability Benefit can be designed to meet the needs of people with disabilities;
• Outlining how to enhance income supports for people living in poverty;
• Exploring the full range of tools available to increase affordable housing in Canada, including better using publicly owned land; and
• Encouraging governments at all levels to work together to fulfill Canada’s international and domestic human rights commitments.

Summary of Maytree’s recommendations

Strengthen income supports

1. Develop a Canada Disability Benefit that is accessible to all those who need it, improves income adequacy by accounting for the additional costs associated with living with a disability, and centres dignity and inclusion in its administration. In the spirit of co-creation, people with lived expertise should be meaningfully engaged in the benefit’s design and implementation.
2. Improve support for unattached working-age singles living in poverty by transforming part of the Canada Workers Benefit into the Canada Working-Age Supplement, as proposed by Maytree and Community Food Centres Canada.
3. Further the right to an adequate standard of living for marginalized people by making one-time cost-of-living increases to the GST/HST credit permanent and consider the option to expand the GST/HST credit into the Groceries and Essentials Benefit, as proposed by the Affordability Action Council.

Explore all available tools to increase affordable housing

4. Enhance the Canada Housing Benefit.
5. Redesign National Housing Strategy programs so that they prioritize people in core housing need. The government should also consider creating an acquisition fund for non-profit, co-op, and public housing providers to acquire multi-family rental housing.
6. Provide consistent support for deeply affordable housing programs, such as the Rapid Housing Initiative and Reaching Home.
7. Use publicly owned land to build more affordable housing.

Improve accountability for human rights

8. Align National Housing Strategy programs with the requirements for Canada’s housing policy set out in the National Housing Strategy Act, 2019.
9. Work with other levels of government to fulfill Canada’s international and domestic human rights commitments and develop shared transparency mechanisms.
10. Strengthen agreements with other governments to include human rights-based principles, such as the bilateral National Housing Strategy programs.
11. Review and enhance all data collection and metrics related to Canada’s progress on furthering the right to an adequate standard of living. This should include improving the collection and dissemination of information on people with lower incomes, as well as updating key metrics on poverty and housing needed to better reflect the diversity of Canadians’ experiences.