Throughout the year, CHRA regularly sends communications and submissions to the federal government on a range of issues impacting Canada's community housing sector. Recent government communications include:
CHRA and sector partners release plan for Canada Community Housing Growth Fund
October 23, 2024
Doubling the share of non-market community housing will require a strong and robust sector of community housing providers. Our proposed Canada Community Housing Growth Fund (CCHGF) is a sector-led model that strengthens and grows the community housing sector by investing in training, capacity-building, knowledge transfer, and professionalization to get greater number of non-profits development-ready and prepared for growth.
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.
We thank our partners in this proposed initiative: The National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc. (NICHI), The Community Housing
Transformation Centre, and The Black Communities Technical Housing Resource Centre.
CHRA submits letter to Minister Fraser reiterating our priorities ahead of the 2024 Fall Economic Statement
October 16, 2024
The return of Parliament comes at a time when people across the country are struggling through a national housing and affordability crisis.
Last week, CHRA sent a letter to Minister Sean Fraser highlighting some of our key priorities for this Parliamentary sitting that will help us reach our goal of doubling the share of community housing in Canada:
1. Immediately release $280 million from the Urban, Rural and Northern (URN) Indigenous Housing Strategy to the National Indigenous Housing Collaborative Inc. (NICHI).
2. Prioritize Community Housing in the Public Lands for Homes Plan.
3. Accelerate the Roll out of the Rental Protection Fund.
4. Invest in a Canada Community Housing Sector Growth Fund.
5. Provide Stabilized Pre-development Funding.
6. Extend the Timelines of National Housing Strategy Programs.
Immediate Action Required on the National Indigenous Housing Centre Funding
September 30, 2024
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation launched a Request for Proposals in January 2024 to establish an Indigenous-led National Indigenous Housing Centre. Proposals were submitted by March 4, 2024, yet the Government of Canada has not announced an outcome ─ leaving $2.8 billion in critical funding for urban, rural, and northern (URN) Indigenous housing stalled and at risk.
It has now been almost a year since the RFP was announced, and while we wait for a decision, an entire construction season has been lost. NICHI has over $1 billion in urgent, shovel-ready projects awaiting funding. These delays cannot continue.
The Indigenous Caucus and CHRA recently sent a letter to Minister Sean Fraser asking for immediate funding for URN Indigenous housing.
Response to the Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Public Lands for Homes Discussion Paper
On September 10, 2024, the CHRA hosted a member engagement town hall to discuss the HICC discussion paper’s guiding questions with over 30 CHRA members representing community housing providers, developers, and researchers, who participated in the town hall and provided the valuable feedback that informed the responses.
CHRA Submits Letter to Minister of Public Services and Procurement Jean-Yves Duclos, Sharing Our Recommendations for the Implementation of the Public Lands for Homes Plan
August 21, 2024
CHRA strongly supports the Public Lands for Homes Plan as a key initiative to ensure that everyone in Canada has a safe and affordable home. However, to achieve this objective, its implementation must prioritize non-market housing, and for-Indigenous-by-Indigenous housing.
We also believe that public lands should be used to achieve the greatest impact and must be used to invest in and grow non-market community housing options. Therefore, CHRA recommends the following measures be adopted in the implementation of the Public Lands for Homes Plan:
1. Prioritize Community Housing.
2. Prioritize urban, rural, and northern Indigenous housing.
3. Streamline access to development resources.
4. Modernize the mandate of Canada Lands Company (CLC).
5. Simplify the Public Lands Acquisition Fund.
CHRA Submits Recommendations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2025/2026 Budget
August 1, 2024
Canada is struggling through a worsening housing crisis. Since 2021, housing costs have risen dramatically, increasing the number of people facing these same challenges.
By investing directly in growing the community housing sector in Canada we can provide people with safe, affordable, and appropriate places to live. Doing so would support a national right to housing and would allow people to invest in themselves and their communities. To that end, CHRA is making the following recommendations for the 2025/2026 federal budget:
Recommendation 1: Close the gap on Indigenous housing by investing $3 billion per year into the Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy.
Recommendation 2: Reform and extend the Affordable Housing Fund to 2035.
Recommendation 3: Provide stabilized pre-development funding to build more non-profit community housing.
Recommendation 4: Accelerate the Rental Protection Fund.
Recommendation 5: Work with provincial and territorial governments to provide more directed investments to build supportive housing.
Recommendation 6: Invest in the growth of the community housing sector.
Recommendation 7: Protect low-income households by extending federal rental assistance programs.
Recommendation 8: Prioritize community housing for development on public lands.
CHRA’s 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
June 24, 2024
CHRA made a 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.
It is not a coincidence that our economic productivity is dropping as our housing crisis is worsening, nor is it a coincidence that productivity is declining as the share of non-market community housing is also dropping.
This means that to restore affordability and end the current housing crisis we need to more than double the percentage share of the housing stock that is non-market community housing. To do this, CHRA estimates that 24% of all new units built today must be community housing. We need long-term and sustainable commitments that span across governments to ensure clear pathways for new development. To this end, CHRA is recommending that HUMA endorse the following:
- Stable financing and funding for the development and preservation of affordable housing.
- Secure and predictable pre-development funding.
- Growing and strengthening the non-market community housing sector.
- Support the collection of data on new housing construction resulting from federal investments.
CHRA submits letter to the Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, outlining our key recommendations ahead of the 2024 Budget
Last week, CHRA sent a letter to the Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, outlining our key recommendations ahead of the 2024 Budget:
- A Stable Pipeline of Community Housing Development Projects
- Deliver Housing for Urban, Rural, and Northern Indigenous Peoples through NICHI
- Invest in The Canadian Housing Acquisition Fund to Preserve Affordability
- Implement a “Team Canada” Housing Industrial Strategy
Bold policy action to increase Canada’s supply of community housing in Budget 2024 will help address the housing crisis, alleviate the affordability crisis, and increase the standard of living of everyone in Canada.
CHRA submits letter to Minister Freeland outlining our priorities for the Fall Economic Statement
September 12, 2023
CHRA sent a letter to the Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister, outlining our key recommendations for addressing the housing and affordability crises in Canada:
1. A Stable Pipeline of Community Housing Projects
2. Deliver Housing for Urban, Rural, and Northern Indigenous Peoples through NICHI
3. Invest in Preserving Housing Affordability
4. Create a “Team Canada” Housing Industrial Strategy
The Fall Economic Statement is an opportunity to make life fairer, more inclusive, and more affordable for people across Canada. The challenges to addressing Canada’s housing shortfalls are many and require ongoing coordination and collaboration to overcome them. The recommendations outlined in this letter are important steps to making that future a reality.
CHRA submits recommendations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2024 Budget
August 3, 2023
Canada is struggling through a dramatically worsening housing crisis. Millions of Canadians – particularly those with lower incomes – have been experiencing rapidly rising housing costs, driven in large part by an extreme housing supply shortfall. The impacts of Canada’s housing shortfall disproportionately impact Indigenous peoples, newcomers, women-led households, youth, and seniors.
Despite growing need, Canada’s supply of community housing only represents less than 4% of Canada’s total housing stock: less than half the OECD and G7 averages. The inability to afford housing is becoming an increasingly tightening bottleneck to economic growth, undoubtedly contributing to the decline of Canada’s economic productivity.
The Government of Canada must put an ambitious policy agenda in place that doubles the proportion of Canada’s community housing stock to grow the Canadian economy, and make life fairer, more inclusive, and affordable for people across Canada.
CHRA Submits Recommendations to the National Housing Council on the Financialization of Purpose-Built Rental Housing
June 12, 2023
CHRA submitted its recommendations to the National Housing Council on the financialization of housing.
There is consensus that financialization is a significant threat to housing affordability and community housing in Canada. It leads to a business model based on displacing long-term tenants and rapidly increasing rent, with the goal of rapidly increasing the real estate asset value. This trend continues to worsen, requiring a coordinated response to ensure economically vulnerable individuals remain housed. CHRA recommends that the government work in partnership with the community housing sector to co-develop a national rental preservation program to support community housing providers to acquire existing rental properties and preserve affordability, removing these properties from the cycle of financialization.
CHRA is recommending that the National Housing Council endorse our recommendations to mitigate the effects of financialization.
CHRA submits recommendations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) on the financialization of housing
May 24, 2023
CHRA submitted its recommendations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) on the Financialization of Housing. In the context of community housing, the financialization of housing (“financialization”) can be defined as the erosion of private market affordable housing stock caused by the treatment of housing as a financial commodity. CHRA is recommending that HUMA endorse our recommendations to mitigate the effects of financialization.
CHRA submits letter to Minister Freeland reiterating our urgent priorities for Budget 2023
March 15, 2023
This week, CHRA sent a letter to the Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, reiterating our key priorities for addressing the housing and affordability crises in Canada.
Budget 2023 is an opportunity to make life fairer, more inclusive, and more affordable for people across Canada. The challenges to addressing Canada’s housing shortfalls are many and require ongoing coordination and collaboration to overcome them. The recommendations outlined in this letter are important steps to making that future a reality.
CHRA submits letter to federal government outlining urgent priorities for the 2023 federal budget
January 30, 2023
On January 30th, CHRA sent a letter to the federal government asking that they take stock of how they can make life fairer, more inclusive, and more affordable for people across Canada. Our priorities for the 2023 budget can make a meaningful start in creating the housing we need to serve those in core housing need.
CHRA submits letter to Minister Hussen regarding new cap on Co-Investment Fund grants
October 27, 2022
Recently, non-repayable contributions (grants) available through the National Housing Co-Investment Fund (NHCF) have been capped at $25,000 per unit when paired with loans. With higher interest and inflation, this significant reduction is happening at a time when more grant funding is needed, not less.
Last week, CHRA submitted a letter to the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, urging him to work with the Minister of Finance to provide emergency funding to increase the availability of non-repayable contributions available through NHCF, and to work towards an increased funding envelope through the 2023 Federal Budget.
CHRA submits recommendations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2023 Budget
Last week, CHRA submitted its recommendations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2023 Budget. Unlocking a Canada that is fairer, more inclusive, and affordable for everyone starts at home, and affordable housing is the key. To this end, CHRA is recommending that Budget 2023 include our three priority recommendations.
CHRA Sends Recommendations to Reform National Housing Co-Investment Fund and RCFI
Following a member consultation , CHRA forwarded a letter to Federal Minister for Housing and Diversity and Inclusion Ahmed Hussen and CMHC containing recommendations to improve the $13 billion National Housing Co-Investment Fund and the $25 billion Rental Construction Financing Initiative (RCFI).
Read the letter (in English).
CHRA writes Minister Hussen with recommendations for the third round of the Rapid Housing Initiative
The 2022 federal Budget included a provision of $1.5 billion towards a third round of the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI). CHRA is pleased at the continuation of the RHI, having strongly advocated for such a program since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, CHRA sent a letter to Minister Amhed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, outlining some recommendations for the development of the third round of the RHI.
Read the letter (in English).
Proposals for the $4 Billion Municipal Accelerator Fund
During the 2021 federal election campaign, the Liberals promised to create a new $4 billion Municipal Accelerator Fund that would provide support to municipalities to accelerate and incentivize the development of new affordable housing. In order to inform the content and structure of this program, Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen launched a public consultation earlier this year to seek the views of Canadians. In response, CHRA held a consultation with its members in January to hear member views on the potential for this program - we thank all members who participated. Based on that session, CHRA has prepared a letter to Minister Hussen outlining our views on the content and structure of this proposed Fund. Read the letter.
Submission to the Pre-Budget Consultations for the 2022 Canadian Federal Budget
In early February, federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland launched a pre-budget consultation with Canadians. CHRA submitted a letter to the Minister outlining a number of key priorities that CHRA and its partners have identified over the past year, including the need for an urban, rural and northern Indigenous housing strategy, additional investments in community housing supply, and measures to address financialization. CHRA has also requested the opportunity to meet with the Minister to discuss these items in more detail. Read our submission.
Canadian Alliance of Non-Profit Housing Associations letter to the Prime Minister reacting to the 2021 federal Budget
Members of the Canadian Alliance of Non-Profit Housing Associations (CANPHA) submitted a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressing their disappointment with the omission of funding for urban, rural, and northern Indigenous housing providers from the 2021 Budget. Read the letter.
Letter to Minister Ahmed Hussen with recommendations to improve Round 2 of the Rapid Housing Initiative
On February 8, 2021 The Canadian Housing and Renewal Association (CHRA) and the Community Housing Transformation Centre (CHTC) hosted a consultation session on the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI) to better understand how the initiative can improved as a second phase and inform the federal government. Learn more.
2021 Pre-Budget consultation submission
CHRA submitted a brief to the House of Commons Finance Committee as part of the Committee's annual pre-budget consultation process in advance of the 2021 federal budget. Learn more.
CHRA Releases Polling Results on Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy
The CHRA Indigenous Caucus releases the results of a national public opinion poll undertaken by Abacus Data designed to better understand the views and beliefs that Canadians have on urban, rural and northern (URN) Indigenous housing. Learn more.
Letter to Minister Ahmed Hussen on ideas for a post-pandemic Canada
CHRA prepared a letter to the federal Minister responsible for housing, Ahmed Hussen, summarizing key suggestions on how to assist housing providers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in its aftermath. Learn more.
2020 Pre-Budget consultation submission
In advance of the 2020 federal Budget, the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association (CHRA) today issued its submission to the federal government outlining its key budgetary recommendations. Learn more.
Letter to Minister Jean-Yves Duclos on the National Housing Strategy Act
CHRA prepared a letter to Minister Jean-Yves Duclos regarding our belief that the National Housing Strategy should be designed within a human rights framework. Read the letter.
2019 Pre-Budget consultation submission
CHRA submitted a list of recommendations to the House of Commons Finance Committee ahead of the 2019 Federal Budget. Learn more.
"For Indigenous, By Indigenous" Proposal for an Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy
CHRA and its Indigenous Housing Caucus Working Group released A For Indigenous, By Indigenous (FIBI) National Housing Strategy that calls on the federal government to address the housing needs of urban, rural and northern Indigenous families and individuals. Learn more.
CHRA Response to the National Housing Strategy consultation
On October 11, CHRA submitted its response to the federal government regarding its National Housing Strategy Consultation entitled "Housing at a Crossroads: CHRA's Vision for the Next Generation of Housing Policy in Canada". Read the Response.