Home at all costs.
Because Home is Everything
The Shift works with governments, communities, and advocates around the world to reorient housing around people rather than profit. We build the research, frameworks, and political tools needed to challenge financialization, uphold human rights, and change the rules that make the current system possible.
See our WorkThe Shift’s Global Director
Leilani Farha is the 2026 CBC Massey Lecturer
This lecture series will be based on Leilani’s book, Housing Inc.: A Global Takeover and Our Fight for Home, which will bring her to cities across Canada. The opportunity has inspired Leilani and The Shift to build a national campaign to challenge who holds power and influence in Canada’s housing system.
We know that the bigger our movement, the more change we can make. Be a part of what we’re building.
The Shift is a global organization working at the intersection of housing, finance, and climate through a human rights lens. We believe that the right to adequate housing is not an aspiration; it is a binding obligation that governments have already agreed to meet. Our work is grounded in that conviction: that housing systems can and must be held to a human rights standard, and that lasting solutions come not from managing the crisis but from transforming the conditions that created it.
2026 Spring Economic Update: Canada Strong for All?
Investor Guidelines
We’re often told that affordable housing is not the responsibility of market housing providers. However, truly responsible investing plans for the future – and the future is human rights.
a
human
right,
not
a
commodity
or
an
extractive
industry.
The Shift connects and mobilizes anyone working to secure the right to housing.
