Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA)
192 Spadina Avenue #427 M5T 2C2 Toronto, ON, Canada

Homelessness is one of the greatest human rights challenges in Canada today. You can make a meaningful contribution toward finding solutions to end homelessness buying a toque - today on #ToqueTuesday. Proceeds support CERA & our partner Raising the Roof / Chez Toit. Shop online http://raisingtheroof.org/shop/

#ToqueTuesday is tomorrow! Head over to Instagram at 7pm tomorrow to tune into a live conversation with Raising the Roof / Chez Toit and Mayor of Toronto John Tory to hear about how your purchase of a new toque can raise funds to help find solutions to end homelessness. Find them on Instagram @ raisingtheroof_cheztoit

Let's talk about mental health and housing! People living with mental health issues are widely and openly discriminated against when trying to access housing. They are also over-represented among homeless populations. We're here to help. Learn about our services to help people living with mental health issues http://bit.ly/3t6toqX

People who have experienced homelessness first-hand know what is needed to solve Canada’s housing crisis. Join this webinar for a conversation about how to ensure that lived experts of homelessness are centered in Canada's new mechanisms to claim the right to housing. Register http://bit.ly/35yp5Lc

Our eyes are still set on how the City of Toronto is addressing the housing crisis by advancing the right to housing. One of the key ways to do that is by establishing a Housing Commissioner's office. Here we break down why Toronto needs this role.

2020 was a difficult year. Thousands across the country are currently facing eviction & homelessness as the pandemic rages on, and realizing the right to housing has never been more urgent or essential. Here we take stock of 5 of the biggest right to housing developments of 2020.

Some good news: earlier this week Toronto City Council voted in favour of pursuing a Vacant Homes Tax! This is a key policy tool to increase the supply of rental homes, curb financialization, and generate revenue for affordable housing initiatives.

Check out the latest episode the 905er podcast featuring an in-depth conversation with our Executive Director, Alyssa Brierley, on the looming eviction crisis in Ontario and the GTHA, and how advancing the right to housing can address these issues.

The Landlord and Tenant Board is in crisis, and so too are renters across Ontario. Our current and former Executive Directors lay out a laundry list of human rights and justice issues at the LTB, and join in calls for a moratorium on evictions until the government can ensure the basic procedural rights of Ontarians are upheld.

Deeply concerning news of a lack of access to justice at the Landlord and Tenant Board for low-income tenants facing eviction. "It does feel like the tribunals have made a conscientious decision to protect their adjudicators and their staff without making any provisions or any plans to accommodate the low-income individuals who may be putting themselves at risk simply to access their basic rights to appear at their own hearing."

"Sleeping in a tent is currently the least bad option. If this is the best option people have, what does that say about our system?", says our Executive Director Alyssa Brierley. As shelters cope with increased demand amid the pandemic, many people experiencing homelessness are turning to encampments for community and shelter.

A new study lays bare the racial, social, and geographic divides in Toronto's housing crisis and an increasingly segregated city.

Join us tomorrow! Our event with the National Right to Housing Network will be an interactive discussion to explore strategies that can address the evictions & arrears crisis, and how the National Housing Strategy Act can be applied to claim the right to housing. Register https://bit.ly/3qGZE2J

Looking for a great stocking stuffer? We've got you covered! We're selling Raising the Roof / Chez Toit's toques, masks, baseball hats, mittens & socks to raise funds to support long-term solutions to prevent homelessness. Items are between $15-$20 each. Place your order by Dec. 17 to receive your purchase in time for the holidays!

On Monday, MPP Jessica Bell's bill 'Protecting Renters from Illegal Evictions Act' will go to the second reading in the Ontario Legislature. If passed, it has the potential to protect renters facing eviction in a number of ways. Here is our take on everything you need to know about this bill.

The Ontario NDP's Housing Plan released earlier this week takes a big step forward in advancing the right to housing, by addressing affordable housing, financialization, support for vulnerable residents, and protection from illegal eviction. Here's our take.

Disappointing to see that Ontario's budget does not include support for tenants, despite an unprecedented need. This is another missed opportunity to address long-standing issues like the affordability & evictions crisis.

On November 10 the City of Toronto will host a public consultation on its Inclusionary Zoning policies, which could potentially require housing developers to include thousands of affordable units in new buildings. Join the consultation to share your ideas on this key tool to advance the right to housing.