The Women’s National Housing & Homelessness Network has prioritized three major policies to advance housing security for women and gender-diverse people in a submission to the Department of Finance for Budget 2026.
Canada is navigating a period of significant economic uncertainty, driven by the ongoing trade disputes with the United States. In moments like this, governments often turn their focus toward economic infrastructure, while investments in social services — including affordable housing — can slip down the priority list. But housing is economic infrastructure. Its effectiveness depends on everyday Canadians, who are already absorbing the effects of a trade war, being able to afford it.
Safe, affordable housing is foundational. It allows people to participate in the workforce, support their families, and maintain their well-being, while easing pressure on emergency systems like shelters and hospitals. When housing is stable and affordable, people are better equipped to weather economic uncertainty. When it isn’t, the costs ripple out across households, public systems, and the broader economy.
The Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network (WNHHN) recognizes the progress the federal government has made on affordable housing, including the launch of Build Canada Homes and reaffirmed funding for Indigenous housing initiatives like the Urban, Rural, and Northern Indigenous Strategy and the Canada-Alberta Housing Infrastructure Fund. But important gaps remain. The government’s response to the Neha Review Panel stops short of committing to the Panel’s recommendations on the human right to housing, and there are still no dedicated federal targets or directives aimed at improving housing outcomes for women and gender-diverse people.
Budget 2026 is an opportunity to close that gap. In our Fall 2026 Pre-Budget Consultation submission, WNHHN put forward three recommendations:
1. Establish an Indigenous-governed gendered housing and homelessness stream under Reaching Home. This stream would invest $50 million annually over eight years in housing and homelessness supports and services for women and gender-diverse people across Canada, as recommended by the Neha Review Panel.
2. Invest in low-barrier permanent supportive housing for women and gender-diverse people experiencing homelessness and/or fleeing violence. This includes allocating at least 40% of affordable and deeply affordable housing units through Build Canada Homes to women and gender-diverse people, setting clear implementation timelines and targets to end gendered homelessness, and requiring Build Canada Homes initiatives to publicly report on how Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) has shaped their funding, planning, design, and implementation.
3. Expand and stabilize funding for Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE). This would ensure adequate, ongoing funding for violence against women (VAW) emergency responses, such as shelters and transition houses, as well as core community-based, feminist, survivor-serving organizations.
These recommendations are about accountability—ensuring that federal housing investments actually reach the Canadians most likely to fall through the cracks of existing systems.