Blog Series | Social, Non-Profit and Affordable Housing

Blog written by HPC Housing Investment Corporation, picture provided by GEC Architecture

The HPC Housing Investment Corporation (HIC) announced last week that it closed its second round of financing – a significant milestone for the fairly new housing sector lending institution. As part of HIC’s new Construction Lending Program, it was able to secure $40 million in long-term financing for Capital Region Housing’s Londonderry project that will see 240 new affordable homes in Edmonton, Alberta.

In this blog, Howie Wong, HIC Director and General Manager explains what exactly HIC can offer housing providers and how they can benefit from their financing tools.

By Jeff Morrison, Executive Director of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association

Speculation has been rife in Ottawa and among political pundits as to if, and when, the federal government might introduce its next Budget. 2020 was an odd year in that the federal government did not introduce an annual budget, despite hundreds of billions of dollars in spending due to the pandemic. Here are five items that CHRA will be watching for in the 2021 federal Budget.

By Jeff Morrison, Executive Director of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association

As we look ahead in 2021, Jeff Morrison highlights the top 10 things the community housing sector should keep watch for in the upcoming year.

By Steve Pomeroy, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research and Education (CURE), Carleton University

On November 30, 2020, the federal government announced their “Economic and Fiscal Snapshot”. Although not a full budget, the fiscal update announced the government’s intentions to introduce over $100 billion in stimulus spending after the COVID-19 pandemic had subsided. Professor Pomeroy shares his thoughts on this Fall Fiscal Update.

CHRA is blessed to include so many renowned leaders within our membership. As leaders, there is no end to the challenges you face, and no end to the kinds of solutions that you need to develop. Navigating through difficult situations is a common challenge, especially when determining a path forward is not always clear-cut or obvious. As housing leaders, we are all used to getting creative and thinking “outside the box” to tackling the long list of challenges we all face.

By Jeff Morrison, Executive Director of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association

On June 21, the Governor General signed into law Bill C-97, which contained the “National Housing Strategy Act”, and the federal right to housing legislation. So what’s next? Although the right to housing is a positive step forward, questions remain as to its implications. Based on the legislation itself and discussions with CMHC and other government officials, Jeff has compiled a Top 10 list of what we expect the legislation will achieve, what it won’t achieve, and what we don’t yet know. 

By Nick Falvo, Research Associate at the Carleton University Centre for Community Innovation, and CCPA Research Associate. This blog was originally posted on behindthenumbers.ca

On March 19, Canada’s federal finance minister tabled the Trudeau government’s 2019 budget titled Investing in the Middle Class. Budget 2019 has implications for housing—here are 10 things to know. 

By Steve Pomeroy, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research and Education, Carleton University

As I thought about the coming year for Canada’s affordable housing sector, I thought it might be good to write a blog. However, never one to be accused of being short for words, the blog evolved into an essay, much too long for a blog.

This blog post by the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association was originally published on QuickConnections.

The community housing sector is modernizing. Recent developments, from the National Housing Strategy to Ontario’s proposed modernized framework, are moving us in to a new era and challenging us to think creatively. We are seeing new funding opportunities for research open up. As a sector, we need to be ready to take full advantage of the opportunities coming down the pipe.

By Jeff Morrison, Executive Director, Canadian Housing and Renewal Association

In an era where we’re all so busy and many of us suffer from information overload, I know what you must be thinking:  Another thing to read?  One more item on my to-do pile?  It’s true, there’s certainly no shortage of reading material available, even on a topic as specific as housing.  But the staff and Board at CHRA often hear from our members and non-members alike that they don’t always understand everything that is going on nationally in housing, nor even within CHRA itself.  So this new CHRA blog series is intended to be another tool in the communication toolkit to share ideas, information, and perspectives on what’s happening in the social and affordable housing space in Canada –and the more candid and direct, the better.