2025 has been one for the books; a federal election, Build Canada Homes, our largest Congress and Housing on the Hill Day since we returned to in-person events, and so much more.

Join us as we look back on what your Association has accomplished this year.

 

Policy and advocacy

Build Canada Homes. With a primary focus on non-market community housing and growing the share of non-market housing,  the mandate of Build Canada Homes is a big win for our sector.

Engagement with CHRA members informed our recommendations for Build Canada Homes, about which we regularly engaged with Minister Robertson’s office and federal officials ahead of its official launch. Our collective voice as an association helped make this happen. We must continue to push to ensure Build Canada Homes results in tangible growth for our sector to truly address core housing need.

Housing on the Hill 2025. At the beginning of December, we welcomed our largest crowd ever to Housing on the Hill, a members-only event that brings together housing leaders and advocates to meet with Parliamentarians to advocate for solutions to the housing crisis. Early feedback has been very positive; this seems to be our most successful Housing on the Hill yet!

Affordable Housing Fund top-up. Our advocacy was critical in the government’s provision of $1.5 billion in top-up loans for the Affordable Housing Fund, which had been nearing depletion. This funding will provide stable, predictable funding for projects already in the development pipeline.

Federal Election 2025. As part of the Housing Canada Coalition, we launched End the Housing Game; a campaign to advocate for solutions to the housing crisis during the 2025 federal election. Working within this coalition allowed us to reach a wider audience than usual and position the housing crisis as a key election issue.

We also created a resource hub to keep our members informed of housing-related policy updates and developments throughout the election.

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:

• Building with Purpose: CHRA’s submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance ahead of the 2026 budget
• Letter to Minister Robertson: Affordable Housing Fund Halting New Construction
• Building Affordability into Build Canada Homes
• Letter from the CHRA Indigenous Caucus, NICHI, and the National Association of Friendship Centres in Response to Budget 2025

Member 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.

February

• An introduction to then Housing and Infrastructure Minister Nate Erskine-Smith via webinar.
• CMHC updates on the AHF - February 4 (members only).

March-April

• CHRA policy refresh: a series of online meetings, a survey, and an in-person engagement session at our Congress in Saskatoon gave CHRA members the chance to set our policy and advocacy objectives for 2025.
• Federal election member webinar.

June

• Build Canada Homes in-person workshop.

July

• CMHC webinar on the Housing Design Catalogue.

August

• Build Canada Homes CHRA member consultation.

December

• Build Canada Homes CEO, Ana Bailão, met with CHRA members at Housing on the Hill.
• Build Canada Homes Investment Policy Framework webinar (with Build Canada Homes CEO Ana Bailão).

 

Research

I’ll Have a Double-double. In late November, we released I'll Have a Double-double, Please: Quantifying the base to scale up non-market housing in Canada. Our sector has been lacking a definitive source of data on the actual scale of Canada's community housing stock. This report, prepared by Steve Pomeroy, aims to change this.

Accelerating the Creation of New Community Housing. At the end of June 2025, CHRA hosted an in-person workshop in Ottawa to help shape our approach to Build Canada Homes. CHRA released Accelerating the Creation of New Community Housing in September; a report that summarizes the key takeaways from the community housing providers that participated in the workshop.

Housing Canada. As part of the Housing Canada Coalition, we released Housing Canada: A Sovereign Plan to Protect Canadians and Build a Resilient Housing System in March, a timely policy response to the dual threats of the housing crisis and the impact of American tariffs on Canada’s economy.

Professional development and sector sustainability

Congress 2025. From April 29-May 1, we hosted over 600 attendees, speakers, tradeshow exhibitors, and sponsors in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for the 2025 CHRA Congress—our biggest since we returned to in-person events in 2023. We look forward to welcoming attendees to St. John’s for the 2026 Congress, April 20-22.

CHRA/CIH Canada Study Tour. In September, CHRA and CIH Canada, in cooperation with Nick Falvo Consulting, led a Study Tour focused on affordable housing in Helsinki, Finland. Participant feedback was extremely positive, and we look forward to taking participants to Copenhagen, Denmark in 2026.

Webinars and online training. Throughout the year, CHRA held a number of webinars on key housing- and homelessness-related topics. Keep an eye on our webinars page for more learning opportunities in 2026 and to see recordings of past webinars.

CHRA Book Club. From the suggestion of a Housing Professionals Mentorship Program participant, we launched the CHRA Book Club, which meets every other month to explore and discuss books, Canadian when possible, that dive into the many dimensions of housing issues in Canada.

2SLGBTQ Community of Practice. Also launched this year, the 2SLGBTQ Community of Practice brings together housing professionals, advocates, and organizations from across Canada who are committed to advancing inclusion and equity in housing for 2SLGBTQ communities. Learn why this is such an important initiative.

 

CHRA Awards

This year saw the return of the CHRA Awards following a brief hiatus to retool the program. We were proud to have honoured our 2025 recipients in May at the CHRA Congress in Saskatoon.

• Indigenous Cultural Sustainability Award: Organization - Skigin-Elnoog Housing Corporation
• Outstanding Programs and Initiatives Award: Organization - Invisible People
• Leadership Award: Individual - Pamela Hine
• Outstanding Development Award: Organization - Greater Victoria Housing Society

Learn more about the 2025 CHRA Award winners.

CHRA news

CHRA continues to grow. For the third year in a row, we were able to add a new position. Julie Guimont joined the team in July as Communications and Member Engagement Coordinator and is working to help us take our communications channels up a notch and to improve our membership systems.

 

Thank you to our members, sector partners, and sponsors for working with us to improve the sector in 2025. Stay tuned to our communications channels including our Flash newsletter, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram profiles, and the CHRA blog to stay up to date on what we’re working on in 2026.

Not a CHRA member yet? Join our movement for affordable housing in 2026!