Planning for Housing and Food Security with Sustainable Design

Despite the social and economic success in Canada, both housing and food are recognized as important issues that are without a comprehensive framework that identifies the intersections between the two. Currently, there is the National Housing Strategy, and the National Food Strategy that will be released in Fall 2018, but these initiatives and others like them may not be enough to tackle the dilemma that the City of Toronto is facing. The concentration of people that are unable to afford and access adequate housing and food challenges the future health of communities. Given that, this paper is a compilation of meaningful literature and dialogue with planners, officials, housing providers, food advocates, and stakeholders in Toronto. Using this, there will be a discussion of strategies and plans aimed at housing and food in Canada. This will provide context, and explore the case for sustainable design as a possible way for bringing the issues of housing and food together in a more integrated framework. This paper offers potential recommendations through literature review, case studies, and interviews, and will conclude by looking at programs that can help to manage these problems and change the experiences of people.