PUBLIC LEGAL EDUCATION ON THE RIGHT TO HOUSING
Supporting communities with the knowledge and tools to understand, use, and advance the housing as a human right across Canada.
Why Public Legal Education?
Housing is a fundamental human right in Canada, but the access to justice mechanisms that the federal government created to make this real are still relatively new to the public and communities across the country.
This is why public legal education is needed — it helps people understand Canada’s right to housing law and what it means in practice, and how this knowledge can be used to access housing justice by people in greatest need.
“Human rights are the most powerful when people can understand and use them.”
Strengthening Our Collective Voice
Housing is a fundamental human right in Canada, but the access to justice mechanisms that the federal government created to make this real are still relatively new to the public and communities across the country.
This is why public legal education is needed — it helps people understand Canada’s right to housing law and what it means in practice, and how this knowledge can be used to access housing justice by people in greatest
Where We Step In
The fundamental problem with the access to justice mechanisms under Canada’s right to housing law is that the public simply does not know they exist.
At the same time, the connection between the right to housing, international human rights laws, and housing policy are not well understood by the public nor is that information widely accessible.
NRHN steps in to help close this gap.
We work with civil society organizations, legal clinics, and rights holders across the country to co-design and deliver accessible legal education grounded in community priorities and lived experience. We do this through three main approaches:
Building Knowledge
We provide accessible education on the right to housing, Canada’s right to housing law, human rights frameworks, and federal access to justice mechanisms. The National Housing Strategy Act
Learning and Working Together
We co-design all workshops, trainings, and resources with partners to ensure the tools and guidance provided are relevant and responsive to local community needs.
Connecting Knowledge to Action
We equip people most impacted by Canada’s housing and homelessness crisis with the practical tools and resources needed to meaningfully participate in accessing justice through submissions to the Federal Housing Advocate or Review Panels.
What We Teach
The Right to Housing
Understand Canada’s human rights commitments both domestically and internationally.
The National Housing Strategy Act
Understand Canada’s right to housing law, international legal norms, and key players.
Housing Justice
Learn how federal access to justice work and how to use them in your efforts to exercise justice.
Housing and Human Rights
Connect housing injustice to broader human rights.
Tenant Rights and Protections
Understand tenant protections and their connection to human rights.
Turning Knowledge into Action
Turn legal knowledge into justice.
CLICK HERE to access previous public workshops and advocacy tools
Work With Us
Bring right-to-housing legal education to your community.
NRHN collaborates with organizations across Canada to:
- Co-design workshops
- Co-facilitate training
- Provide legal analysis and right-to-housing framing
- Adapt existing resources for different audiences
- Support organizations integrating the right to housing into their own education and advocacy
NRHN brings a national, rights-based perspective grounded in domestic and international human rights law.
Interested in booking a session? Email ambalika@housingrights.ca
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is public legal education needed?
There is no dedicated government capacity, for example, to support those who may wish to engage through written or oral submissions.
We work with communities and organizations across Canada to help them understand, interpret, and use Canada’s right to housing law to access justice in their communities.
What are the access to justice mechanisms under Canada’s right to housing law?
- The National Housing Council
- Review panels
- Office of the Federal Housing Advocate
Who do you work with?
Our public legal education work is designed for and developed with:
- People and communities experiencing housing injustice
- Housing justice advocates and organizers
- Tenant organizers and organizations
- Legal clinics, lawyers, paralegals and community legal workers
- Indigenous Peoples
- Black, racialized, and other equity deserving communities
- Organizations working across related movements, including immigration, poverty, labour, harm reduction, social housing and co-operative housing
- Civil society and regional housing justice networks
What are the education sessions like?
Accessible: We work to make legal information understandable, relevant and usable, while reducing linguistic, technological, cultural and other barriers to participation.
Relevant: Our education responds to changing laws, policies and community priorities. We ground legal knowledge in lived experience and the realities communities are facing.
Collaborative: We work alongside community organizations, rights-holders, legal workers and networks across Canada to share knowledge, co-design resources and strengthen collective action.
Action-oriented: We connect legal knowledge to practical tools that communities can use in access to justice efforts.
Does it cost money for NRHN to host an education session with my community?
No. Our virtual public legal education sessions are generally offered at no cost to communities and participating organizations. Contact us to discuss what you’re looking for.
How can we engage with the new access to justice mechanisms under Canada’s right to housing law?
The National Housing Strategy Act recognizes adequate housing as a human right. It created accountability mechanisms, including the Federal Housing Advocate and review panels through the National Housing Council, that people and communities can use to raise systemic housing issues. You don’t need to be a lawyer or policy expert to take part. Here’s how to get involved. Here are few things you can do:
- Mobilize your community: Bring together neighbours, tenants, people with lived experience of housing need, and local organizations who are seeing the same problems, whether that’s rising evictions, unsafe housing conditions, discrimination, or a lack of accessible or affordable homes. Host a meeting, a listening session, and discuss about how you can develop a joint submission that highlights how systemic issues affects people
- Use our submission template or human rights language guide: Our submission template walks you step by step through describing a systemic housing issue: what is happening, who is affected, and what change is needed. Our human rights language guide helps you connect your experience to the right to adequate housing.
- Share stories highlighting how it impacts your community: Describe how housing issues affect people’s life: how families are forced to move away from schools and supports, families choosing between rent and food at the table, people with disabilities unable to find accessible units, or encampment residents facing displacement. Wherever possible, centre the voices of people with lived experience,
Can we make submissions year-round or only when a review panel is underway?
Review panels are made up of three members of the National Housing Council. The Council establishes a panel to examine one specific systemic housing issue, and the panel then invites submissions from affected communities. For example, a review panel is currently hearing from communities about the lack of accessible housing and will deliver its recommendations to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure within the next year. Because each panel focuses on a single issue, you can only submit to a review panel while it is open and calling for input on that topic.
The federal housing advocate, on the other hand, accepts submissions year-round. Any time your community is experiencing a systemic housing challenge, you can raise it with the Advocate’s office, which has developed a template to make the process easier.
How do we book a session with you?
Please connect with our Legal Education Coordinator at ambalika@housingrights.ca
