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The Right to Housing in Canada: Law, Power, and Lived Reality

Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026
12:00pm to 1:00pm

Free
Selected as a Taproot pick

More Information

Organized by: University of Alberta

Feb.
12

What does the "right to housing" actually mean in Canada? In this Researcher Spotlight, Anna Lund from the Faculty of Law unpacks how the right to housing is recognized across Canadian law, from international human rights covenants and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to the National Housing Strategy Act, human rights legislation, and provincial laws.

Moving beyond what is written on the page, this talk also examines how power operates in practice. Who benefits from legal protections? Who is left vulnerable? And how do social and political realities undermine rights that appear secure in law?

Join us for a clear, accessible look at the gap between housing rights as they are legally defined and as they are experienced by people navigating Canada's housing system.

Speaker Bio

Anna Lund (she/her/hers), '04 BA, '07 LLB, is a Professor in the Faculty of Law. She researches and teaches in the areas of bankruptcy and insolvency, debtor creditor law, civil procedure, access to justice, and housing. Dr Lund's current research interests include mortgage enforcement proceedings, insolvency law, and non-standard legal forms (e.g., cooperatives and non-profit organizations). Her edited collection (co-edited with Sarah Buhler) Legal Unhousing: Power, Rights and Housing Precarity, will be published by the University of British Columbia Press in 2026. Dr Lund continues to practice on a pro bono basis through the Edmonton Community Legal Centre.