As the year comes to a close, we’re looking back on everything CHRA, our members, and sector partners have worked towards and accomplished in 2024. We have a lot to be proud of and we’re looking forward to building on our successes in 2025. Read on to learn more.

 

Policy and advocacy

Budget 2024. Over the past several years, we have worked with our members and sector allies to achieve real housing policy and program gains on the federal level. Budget 2024 reflected many long-standing CHRA priorities:

• $1.5 billion allocated for acquisitions through the Canada Rental Protection Fund. CHRA and its Canadian Housing Acquisition Fund partners are advocating for the government to work with us to implement this important initiative. The establishment of such a fund was a key recommendation from our Blueprint for Housing.
• Through the Public Lands for Homes plan, the unlocking of underused public land for housing, accelerating availability, and creating a mapping tool to track potential sites. The unlocking of public lands for housing was also a Blueprint recommendation.
• $20 million was allocated to modernizing housing data collection – also a recommendation included in the Blueprint.
• $1 billion was allocated to CMHC to launch a new Rapid Housing stream under the Affordable Housing Fund to build more deeply affordable housing, supportive housing, and shelters. This new funding stream focuses on supportive housing and is in addition to the $1 billion top-up announced in the 2023 Fall Economic Statement – both part of CHRA’s advocacy efforts.
• The federal government removing GST from new rental apartment construction projects – something CHRA has long advocated for.

Housing on the Hill 2024. Just last week, we welcomed 80+ delegates, government representatives, and speakers as we came together to advocate for community housing’s role in solving the housing crisis. Thank you to everyone who attended and participated in making this event a success.

Parliamentary and Government communications. With the input of our members, we communicated regularly with the federal government through submissions, letters, meetings, and informal conversations. High-profile submissions from this year include:

• Our letter to the Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, outlining our key recommendations ahead of the 2024 Budget
• Our Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) on Federal Housing Investments
• Our Recommendations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2025/2026 Budget
• The Indigenous Caucus’ submission: Immediate Action Required on the National Indigenous Housing Centre Funding

Engagement sessions. We rely on our members for our direction and purpose. CHRA members inform our policy and advocacy priorities and get access to special consultation sessions with CHRA leadership and government decision-makers. This year, CHRA members joined us for these consultation/Q&A sessions:

• Webinar with Minister Sean Fraser: What does Budget 2024 mean for community housing? (open to the public)
• Roundtable on the housing design catalogue hosted by Infrastructure Canada
• Public Lands townhall
• Advocacy updates and feedback

 

Sector partnerships

The Canadian Housing Acquisition Fund. In March, CHRA and sector partners BC Rental Protection Fund, National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc. (NICHI), and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada launched the Canadian Housing Acquisition Fund. This pan-Canadian federally incorporated non-profit to move rental homes into community ownership through non-profits and co-operatives, protecting their affordability forever.

The Canada Community Housing Growth Fund. In October, we launched the Canada Community Housing Growth Fund ((CCHGF) alongside NICHI, The Black Communities Technical Housing Resource Centre (BCTHRC), and the Community Housing Transformation Centre. The CCHGF model provides funding directly to community-based organizations, with priority to Indigenous-led and Black-led organizations, through a collaborative co-development process that leverages the organizational capacity of community-based fund managers to develop adaptable and culturally sensitive programming.

 

Professional development and education

Congress 2024. In April, we brought together over 500 community housing professionals, researchers, thought leaders, and more in Fredericton for our 56^th Annual Congress. Attendees enjoyed a casual vibe in keeping with our host city and many were lucky to catch the full solar eclipse on April 8. We look forward to welcoming attendees to the 2025 CHRA Congress in Saskatoon, April 29-May 1.

Housing Professionals Mentorship Program relaunch. In April, after a brief hiatus, we relaunched the Housing Professionals Mentorship Program (HPMP) with a revamped learning program. We were excited to match over 40 mentees with experienced community housing mentors. We look forward to continuing to grow the Program.

CHRA/CIH Canada Study Tour. In May, CHRA and CIH Canada, in cooperation with Nick Falvo Consulting, led a Study Tour focused on affordable housing in London, England. The same partners look forward to taking participants to Helsinki, Finland in September for the 2025 Study Tour (waitlist only).

Webinars and online training. Throughout the year, CHRA held a number of webinars on key housing- and homelessness-related topics. We also brought the popular online conflict management training session back this fall. Keep an eye on our webinars page for more learning opportunities in 2025 and to see recordings of past webinars.

 

CHRA news

Revamped Awards program. This year, we worked to retool the CHRA Awards for 2025 to better reflect the modern community housing sector. We have four new awards that will be presented at the 2025 Congress in Saskatoon:

• Outstanding Programs and Initiatives Award - Organization
• Indigenous Cultural Sustainability - Organization
• Outstanding Development Award - Organization
• Leadership Award - Individual

Submit your nominations by December 18!

CHRA continues to grow. We were able to add a new position in 2024 – Manager of Operations. Anna Martin joined the team in January and has been working to make CHRA’s administration, Board processes, data reporting, and more run smoothly.

 

Thank you to our members, sector partners, and sponsors for working with us to improve the sector in 2024. Stay tuned to our communications channels including our Flash newsletter, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn profiles, and the CHRA blog to stay up to date on what we’re working on in 2025.