ONTARIO’S HISTORY WITH HOUSING FIRST By Nick Falvo Carleton University Addictions & Mental Health Ontario 3 rd Annual Addictions and Mental Health Conference May 25, 2015 Toronto, Canada

1. Housing First has no clear definition At one time, it referred to the provision of permanent housing to an individual without requiring ‘housing readiness.’ Over the past decade, many individuals and groups have redefined/coopted the term.

2. It’s not exactly “new” Since homelessness became a pressing public policy issue in the 1980s, many advocates have stressed the need to provide permanent housing without requiring the incoming tenant to prove their ‘housing readiness.’ As early as the 1980s throughout Ontario, many community agencies started creating housing for homeless singles without requiring housing readiness. (Admittedly, some supportive housing providers have required housing readiness; but many did not.)

3. Its messaging has broad appeal Admittedly, Housing First does not appeal to everyone. But it does resonate to a great many people across the political spectrum on ‘the left’ and ‘the right.’ It can also be supported in principle by a funder even if that funder does not wish to provide funding for all (or even most) people in need of Housing First.

4. Before Housing First, there was Supportive Housing Major inroads were made in Ontario with respect to supportive housing, beginning in the 1980s. I know this happened in both Toronto and Ottawa, as well as other communities across the province. This was seen as a belated response to deinstitutionalization.

5. Supportive Housing Supportive housing is a term that refers to permanent housing for marginalized persons that is both funded by government and offers staff support to the tenant. Individuals living in supportive housing in Ontario today include individuals who have experienced: homelessness, acquired brain injuries, mental health problems, HIV/AIDS, and addictions.