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HealthyHousing.ca: 
Where Research and Community Meet

HealthyHousing.ca, a National HIV/Housing Portal, is a space for people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs), service providers and researchers to learn more about issues related to HIV/AIDS and housing.

The website is the result of a community partnership between Fife House Foundation, a supportive housing provider located in downtown Toronto, and the Ontario HIV Treatment Network, a collaborative network to promote excellence and innovation in HIV treatment, research and education in Ontario.

Why Build a National HIV/Housing website?

The idea for this portal emerged from the research gathered by Positive Spaces, Healthy Places research project.  This research revealed that, in Ontario, almost half of the people living with HIV have problems with housing.  In 2006:

  • 3 out of 4 had an income of less than $1,500 a month
  • 4 out of 10 found it difficult to pay their rent
  • 1 out of 3 was at risk of losing housing
  • 1 out of 3 were worried about being forced out of their homes.
  • 1 out of 4 do not feel they belong in their neighbourhoods

As people living with HIV/AIDS are living longer, they often experience complex challenges that complicate their ability to keep and maintain stable employment, housing, and other supports. Poverty, illness, and stigma often frame this experience, contributing to new infections and affecting the health status of PHAs.

There is a growing consensus among community-based AIDS organizations, researchers, front-line workers, and policy-makers that housing is a key factor affecting the heath and well-being of people living with HIV/AIDS. Affordable, safe, supported, and stable housing can help mitigate the effects of poverty, stigma, and illness.

However, we found that both provincially and nationally there is no system in place to ensure housing and support services for PHAs, and there were few recognized partnerships between ASOs and the broader housing sector. Community-based AIDS organizations stated that they lacked information on housing services, and that there were few centralized sources of housing informatin. The lack of a system which brings together the housing sector and HIV/AIDS service organizations acts as a barrier to access for PHAs in need of safe, affordable housing.

HealthyHousing.ca is intended to bring the housing sector and HIV/AIDS services organizations together for benefit of PHAs, ASOs, community and academic researchers, policy makers, and advocates across the country.

The HealthyHousing.ca portal:

  • Provides a snapshot of housing and HIV in each province.
  • Provides a listing of both housing and HIV/AIDS service organizations (local, provincial, national, and international)
  • Provides a comprehensive reference library on housing, HIV, and homelessness that will include grey literature.
  • Provides a listing of researchers and research projects which include a component related to HIV, housing, and homelessness.
  • Provides a listing of conference and events related to housing and homelessness.
  • Provides a forum for housing workers, HIV/AIDS workers, researchers, advocates and PHAs to come together, share experiences and discusses strategies for improvement.

Our goal is to increase collaboration and partnerships and so, we need your help to build the portal so that it is an effective resource in improving housing stability, reducing the risks of homelessness and improving PHAs access to services and supports.

Please contact us with and share your knowledge regarding HIV and housing in your area. Tell us how to build HealthyHousing.ca so it works for you.