Arts & Culture

On November 22, 2021 the Toronto sign will be lit red to recognize National Housing Day. National Housing Day is observed across Canada and affirms that housing is a human right. 

As the Federation of Canadian Municipalities recognizes, “National Housing Day commemorates the moment in November 1998 when FCM's Big City Mayors' Caucus joined with frontline housing and public health advocates to declare homelessness a national disaster.” This day recognizes that access to affordable and adequate housing is the foundation for communities, and aims to raise awareness of this issue in our city. Though there is great work being done by organizations and people across Canada, this day reaffirms that more needs to be done so everyone can be safely housed. The social media hashtag #nationalhousingday appears every year in November to share information on events and advocacy work.

Toronto Public Library commits to supporting people experiencing homelessness in our city; through our warm, welcoming spaces, supports found within our branches and by working closely with community organizations and the City of Toronto.

To learn more about housing and homelessness here are some recommended titles.

How ten global cities take on homelessness: innovations that work by Linda Gibbs, Jay Bainbridge, Muzzy Rosenblatt, Tamiru Mammo

Homelessness: how to end the national crisis by Jack Layton

House divided: how the missing middle will solve Toronto's affordability crisis by Alex Bozikovic; Cheryll Case, John Lorinc, Annabel Vaughan

And to begin a conversation with children check out this book.

On our street : our first talk about poverty by Dr. Jillian Roberts, Jaime Casap