21 of the 1954 Convention.270 However, considering many stateless persons live on the socio-economic margins of society and do not have access to social assistance, their ineligibility for social housing may simply compound their already precarious circumstances. The fact that social housing legislation in Alberta and British Columbia makes an exception if the person is an immigrant whose “sponsorship agreement has broken down,” indicates that some foreign nationals in similar circumstances as stateless persons are deemed eligible. It is with this in mind that Canada is reminded of the following international human rights obligations with respect to the right to housing, which apply to everyone, including stateless persons in its territory. Under Article 11(1) of the ICESCR, Canada is “to recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions…”271 In addition, Canada has obligations under Article 27(1) and 27(3) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child “to recognize the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development…,”272 and to “take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for the child to implement this right and shall in case of need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing.”273 Finally, Canada has committed under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racism (“ICERD”) “to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of…The right to housing”274 In this regard the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (“CERD”) has recommended that although some rights “may be confined to citizens, human rights are, in principle, to be enjoyed by all persons. States parties are under an obligation to guarantee equality between citizens and non-citizens in the enjoyment of these rights to the extent recognized under international law.”275 In particular the CERD recommends that States “[r]emove obstacles that prevent the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights This is not to say that discrimination in housing does not occur. For example, in Ontario a landlord can request credit references, rental history information, authorization to conduct credit checks, and may request income information from a prospective tenant (see, Business Practices Permissible to Landlords in Selecting Prospective Tenants for Residential Accommodation, O Reg 290/98, available at: http://canlii.ca/t/1mg2). For stateless persons living on the margins in Canada, without status, precarious employment and no references in Canada, this can prevent stateless persons from accessing adequate housing in Ontario (See, Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation, Human Rights in Housing in Canada: An Advocate’s Guide (2008), at 20 & 24, at: http://tinyurl.com/po5wkb9. Although Ontario’s legislation allows landlords to use this information to select tenants, they cannot refuse accommodation based on a protected ground of discrimination. 270 271 ICESCR, supra note 235 at Art. 11(1). 272 Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, p. 3, at Art. 27(1), available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b38f0.html (entered into force 2 September 1990, ratification by Canada 13 December 1991) [Convention on the Rights of the Child] 273 Ibid., at Art. 27(3). 274 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 21 December 1965, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 660, p. 195, at Art. 5(e)(iii), available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3940.html (entered into force 4 January 1969, ratification by Canada 14 October 1970) [ICERD]. 275 UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), CERD General Recommendation XXX on Discrimination Against Non Citizens, 1 October 2002, at para. 3, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/45139e084.html [CERD General Recommendation No. 30] 270 57 57