Federal, Provincial and Territorial Forum on Housing

Federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) governments have a shared responsibility and complementary roles for housing and partner together to achieve better housing outcomes.

In 2018, ministers responsible for housing endorsed a multilateral Housing Partnership Framework, which commits to achieving better housing outcomes for Canada.^{Footnote 1} It established a shared vision for housing and set the foundation for bilateral agreements on the delivery of a number of National Housing Strategy initiatives.

Federal, Provincial and Territorial Forum on Housing

Federal, provincial and territorial governments work together through the Forum on Housing. The Forum collaborates towards a long-term vision where everyone in Canada has affordable housing that meets their needs. This partnership ensures that housing solutions – from homelessness to market housing – work in tandem to meet the needs of everyone in Canada.

The Forum is a membership-based group where ministers, deputy ministers and senior officials responsible for housing meet throughout the year to collaborate on shared priorities.

The Forum's main goals are to:

• inform housing policy and priorities
• coordinate efforts across the housing sector
• share best practices and identify research needs
• monitor the success of the National Housing Strategy across Canada
• collaborate on policy and program development to address emerging housing issues

Who are Forum members?

Ministers and government officials from federal, provincial and territorial governments make up the Forum's membership.

The provincial or territorial co-chair serves on a rotational basis, for a period of two years. Manitoba is the current provincial/territorial co-chair.

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The co-chairs of the FPT Forum on Housing

The Honourable Gregor Robertson
Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada
Government of Canada

The Honourable Bernadette Smith
Minister of Housing, Addictions and Homelessness
Government of Manitoba

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The co-chairs serve alongside the provincial and territorial ministers responsible for housing, municipal affairs, social services, and communities.

The Forum's work

The Forum develops work plans that are approved by all ministers and provide focus to the collaborative work of the Forum.

The current Forum's work plan is divided in three working groups

• Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy Working Group

  Most Indigenous Peoples live in urban, rural and northern areas. However, Indigenous peoples living in those areas experience higher rates of housing need and homelessness. That is why the federal government worked with Indigenous partners to co-develop and implement an Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy to address the housing needs of Indigenous Peoples living in these areas. Collaboration between governments can help address some of the unique barriers Indigenous peoples face to access safe, affordable, and culturally appropriate housing.

  This working group will discuss the implementation of the federal strategy and identify potential next steps for involvement by provinces and territories.

• Housing Partnership Working Group

  With the National Housing Strategy and the FPT bilateral agreements signed under the Housing Partnership Framework coming to an end in 2028, there is an opportunity to revisit and potentially renew the shared FPT long-term vision for housing.

  This group will play a key role in shaping long-term FPT relationships. By identifying the current policy challenges, gaps in existing housing programming, and areas for enhanced collaboration, it will inform and guide the future FPT partnership following the end of the current bilateral agreements.

• Supportive Housing and Homelessness Working Group

  Affordable and supportive housing plays an important role in addressing homelessness and successfully housing those at risk of homelessness. A lack of supportive housing has been identified as one of the largest gaps in the existing housing continuum.

  This group works to improve the coordination and alignment of FPT supportive housing and homelessness initiatives, which includes providing recommendations and potential policy options to improve the provision of supportive housing and wraparound services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. This working group is currently drafting a final report on jurisdictional findings.

Meeting details

Questions? Get in touch.

For questions, please contact us by email: FPTforumonhousing@infc.gc.ca.

Related information

• Multilateral Housing Partnership Framework
• Current bilateral agreements that have been signed with the provinces and territories