Constitutional Framework for Rights-Based Strategies to Address Homelessness and Poverty as Social Determinants of Health

Abstract

This article examines Canadian Constitutional provisions that can be used to protect the right to adequate housing and freedom from poverty, and hold Canadian governments accountable for honouring obligations under international agreements to adopt coherent and effective strategies to reduce and eliminate homelessness.

Four key Canadian constitutional sections provide a basis to challenge governments to protect these rights: 1) the commitment to provide public services of reasonable quality to all Canadians, under section 36 of the Constitution Act, 1982; the right to life, liberty, and security of the person, under section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law, under section 15 of the Charter; and Canadian governments’ obligation, under section 1 of the Charter, to balance and limit rights in a manner that is reasonable and demonstrably justifiable.

See also: Jackman, M. & Porter B. Rights Based Strategies to Address Homelessness and Poverty as Social Determinants of Health in Canada: The Constitutional Framework. (Available on SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2348713).

Keywords: Canada, constitution, housing, poverty, homelessness, substantive equality, social right, rights-based, human right, economic, Charter