The right to housing: access to justice in an evolving legal landscape — What PLEI organizations need to know now
Description
The right to housing continues to evolve, and this session will bring public legal education and information (PLEI) organizations up to date on Canada’s recently established access to justice mechanisms under the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA) and key judicial decisions on economic and social rights—and what these developments mean for delivering public legal information.
Human rights and legal educators play an important role in supporting access to justice and helping marginalized communities understand their rights. The right to housing is grounded in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which Canada ratified over 50 years ago, and was further recognized in Canadian law through the National Housing Strategy Act in 2019.
As Canada’s housing crisis continues, the legal landscape surrounding the right to housing is also evolving. International and domestic decisions, along with guidance from the United Nations, have expanded this growing body of law. For PLEI organizations, these developments raise practical questions about how to communicate housing rights accurately in plain language, respond to common misconceptions, and ensure public legal information reflects the current legal landscape.
In this session, the National Right to Housing Network (NRHN) provided an overview of the international and domestic legal framework related to the human right to housing, including intersecting Charter protections for economic and social rights, with a focus on practical takeaways for PLEI organizations.
Participants will learn about:
- Canada’s international commitments on the right to housing
- An overview of the National Housing Strategy Act
- Key decisions related to economic and social rights and what they mean for PLEI organizations
- Common public questions and misconceptions about the right to housing, and strategies for communicating these concepts in plain language
Links:
NRHN Glossary of Key Terms – September 2025
NRHN Understanding the NHSA: Canada’s Right to Housing Toolkit
A Guide to Incorporating Human Rights Language into Your Written Submissions
NRHN – Keeping Youth Housed: Preventing Youth Evictions Through Law
MtS – Youth & Adjudicators Report
NRHN Directory
NRHN Newsletter
Speaker Bio:
Ambalika Roy is the Legal Education Coordinator at the National Right to Housing Network (NRHN). She is a human rights lawyer with over fifteen years of experience in India, where she worked with several national not profit organizations to provide pro bono legal support to marginalized communities. Her work has focused on advancing access to justice for women, people living with HIV, and LGBTQI communities facing systemic exclusion based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and caste.
Ambalika has been deeply involved in public legal education and community empowerment initiatives. She has contributed to several landmark legal judgments in India, including the recognition of the right to confidentiality for people living with HIV and the affirmation of the right to identity for transgender persons.
Since immigrating to Canada in 2019, Ambalika has continued her commitment to social justice. She has worked with the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) and the Democratic Engagement Exchange, engaging communities across the country to raise awareness about the right to housing and democratic participation. Ambalika holds an LL.B. from the University of Calcutta, India.