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The Overhead: Accessible Housing
Monday, 21 September, 2026
In this episode, we talk about the physical and systemic barriers facing people living with a disability who are trying to access housing in Canada. University of British Columbia Adjunct Professor Colin Phillips and Balanced Supply of Housing Research Manager Alina McKay co-authored the report "The Right to Accessible Housing: Identifying Needs and Building the Right Supply." In it, they document the many challenges people with disabilities face finding and securing safe and appropriate housing. As McKay says, the right to housing for people with accessibility needs is often ignored from the first interaction: "When we think the housing journey, we can really think about where discrimination might happen, and the first place it happens is when folks with disabilities... is looking for housing and there's a for-rent sign posted, someone approaches the landlord, 'I'd like to rent this unit,' and the first thing they hear back is, 'Oh, sorry, it's not available.' Because of that first encounter, often that landlord sees someone with a disability and will make the decision. It's discriminating against that person... and we've heard from participants that that happened a lot." How do we ensure people with accessibility needs have safe, suitable, affordable housing?
