The Social Rights Advocacy Centre

A not for profit NGO dedicated to relieving poverty and improving access to adequate food,clothing, housing, education, healthcare and other requirements of dignity, equality and security through human rights research, public education and legal advocacy in Canada and around the world in support of economic, social and cultural rights (social rights).

SRAC

• Bruce Porter is the Executive Director of SRAC and is supported in social rights research and education as a Maytree Fellow.
• On the Steering Committee of the National Right to Housing Network (Canada) and played a central role in negotiating the National Housing Strategy Act with the federal government
• A founding member of ESCR-Net and active on the Steering Committee of ESCR-Net's Strategic Litigation Working Group
• Supports and initiates strategic litigation for social rights in Canada and internationally, including Toussaint v Canada CWP v Canada, Tanudjaja v Canada.
• Co-directed major SSHRC research project on Social Rights in Canada partnering 4 universities and 4 NGOs
• Co-ordinates the work of the  Charter Committee on Poverty Issues.
  

Current Activities

Right to Housing in the National Housing Strategy Act

Grounding Canada's New National Housing Strategy in the Right to Adequate Housing

Powerpoint on Implementing the Right to Housing under the NHSA

See Bruce Porter, Implementing the Right to Adequate Housing Under the National Housing Strategy Act: The International Human Rights Framework (2021)

First SUBMISSION under the NHSA made by CERA and National Right to Housing Network on the arrears and evictions crisis proposing a federal tenant relief benefit.

B Porter and E McIsaac, "Housing Rights: Canada Takes and Historic Step Forward"

Challenging Canada's Failure Implement its Human Rights Obligations in Good Faith: Access to Essential Health Care for Irregular Migrants

Challenging Canada's Failure to Support Vaccine Equity through the TRIPS Waiver at the WTO

Urgent Letter to Minister Ng signed by over 100 organizations and individuals

Media Release November 25 2021

 

Freedom of Expression for Charities

Challenging the Violation of Charities' Right to Freedom of Expression: Canada Without Poverty v. Canada

See the amazing decision. CWP v AG Canada 20180716

Project with CERA!

Implementing the Right to Housing through Community Education and Empowerment: A Community Based Tenant Initiative with the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA)

Powerpoint on applying the right to housing to the arrears/eviction crisis.

New Publication!

Jackie Dugard, Bruce Porter, Daniela Ikawa and Lilian Chenwi (eds) Research Handbook on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as Human Rights (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020)

Human Rights Cities Project with Maytree

Nevena Dragicevic and Bruce Porter, Human Rights Cities:
The power and potential of local government to act on economic and social rights (Maytree, December 2020).

The Charter Challenge to Canada's Failure to Address Homelessness:

The Now Famous Charter Challenge to Canada's Failure to Address Homelessness in Tanudjaja et al v. Ontario and Canada For more information on this historic case that was never fully heard click here.

Social Rights Community-University Research Alliance - check out the wealth of information on this website!

Recent Publications

Jackie Dugard, Bruce Porter, Daniela Ikawa and Lilian Chenwi (eds) Research Handbook on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as Human Rights(Cheltnam: Edward Elgar Publishing, forthcoming)

Martha Jackman & Bruce Porter "Social and Economic Rights" in P. Oliver, P. Macklem and N. Des Rosiers, The Oxford Handbook of the Canadian Constitution (New York, Oxford Univesity Press, 2017) at pp 843-866.

Check out all of the other SRAC publications and working papers.