The parallel housing journeys Mexico and Canada have been on since the 1990s are now diverging. Claudia Sheinbaum’s government has shown that another path is possible. Canada’s misguided strategies, built around supporting financial and real estate industries, are not our only option. We can draw inspiration from Mexico’s decision to actively restructure its housing system.
Because housing is considered mostly a for-profit business in this country. We have substandard poorly maintained public housing and co-ops with multi-year wait lists but that is the exception and not the norm. If you are not employed in a lucrative trade, white collar job, or don’t have family money and live in an urban area your fate is to live in a multigenerational roach and bedbug infested shithole with a landlord who would sell your ass for TicTacs. Not even orange or wintergreen TicTacs - the plain ass white mint ones.