Margaret Pfoh

Margaret is Tsimshian, a member of the Lax Kw’alaams Band and a descendent of the Blackfish/Orca Clan. She joined the non-profit housing sector over 30 years ago and is CEO of the Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA).

Margaret’s career has been built on her dedication to serve and support Indigenous Peoples. Her devotion to Indigenous communities expands far beyond the Provincial housing sector. Margaret currently serves on the CHRA’s Board of Directors as President and she actively represents the urban Indigenous voice at both national and international levels by addressing and advancing housing rights for Indigenous Peoples.

Margaret’s dedication to AHMA has propelled her into a variety of influential roles. AHMA is the first Indigenous housing authority of its kind in Canada and only second in the world. In 2019, Margaret led AHMA to partner with the government of British Columbia to create the historic Building BC: Indigenous Housing Fund (IHF). This monumental initiative made BC the first province in Canada to offer provincial funding to all Indigenous Peoples living both on-reserve and in Urban, Rural and Northern regions of BC.

Following the launch of AMA’s Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy in early 2022, Margaret became a co-founder of National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc. (NICHI), which is a For Indigenous, By Indigenous coalition. Her leadership at AHMA has also led to multiple inputs for the Federal Housing Advocate’s work with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Margaret is an impactful and sought-after public speaker and continues to passionately advocate for justice and the inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples at local and national conferences and engagements worldwide. She was a keynote speaker and panellist at the 2019 National Housing Conference in Darwin, Australia. Margaret was also part of a nationwide coalition with the United Nations Special Rapporteur to the Right to Adequate Housing Leilani Farha and Indigenous Housing leaders from across Canada. Recently, Margaret was invited by the UN-Habitat Programme to speak at the 2023 Pacific Urban Forum on Indigenous housing and sustainable development. Under Margaret’s leadership, AHMA is also a co-host of Housing Central, which is Canada’s largest affordable housing conference.