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Right To Adequate Housing: A Canadian Perspective

Everyone has the right to a decent standard of living. Crucial to realizing this right is to fulfill one of human’s basic needs- the right to adequate housing. Housing is significant because it satisfies our physical needs such as shelter from weather and climate. It also looks into our psychological needs by providing personal space, privacy and sense of security. It even fulfills our social needs by giving a communal space and a gathering area for the human family (Human Rights Education Associates, 2003). Thus, the right to adequate housing as a human right should entail legal actions and guarantees. Such importance is recognized in the international arena wherein governments agreed to come up with provisions and covenants that will define the rights. Embedded upon the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to housing is codified as:
"Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control." (Article 25(1))
This is even reinforced by the international legally-binding document which is the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in the Article 11(1) which states that:
"The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions."
Despite the fact that the international community has frequently reaffirmed the importance of full respect for the right to adequate housing, there is still a large gap between the standards set in Article 11(1) of the Covenant and the situation prevailing in many parts of the world (Leckie, S., 1992). According to the data...