The year in review from the Chief Executive Officer - Canadian Forces Housing Agency Annual Report 2018-2019

The Canadian Forces Housing Agency (CFHA) entered its 23^rd year as a Special Operating Agency in 2018-2019. I am proud of the outstanding work and dedication of our team in the provision of quality residential accommodation solutions for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), and for CAF members and their families.

As a partner in building resilient families and in enabling CAF operational readiness, CFHA is mission focused on providing the best possible housing solutions and services for CAF families. Resilient families are strong families, and over the past year we worked hard with stakeholders to turn houses into homes.

This year, we made significant investments in modernizing the housing portfolio with over $134.5 million devoted to recapitalization, interior renovation, exterior retrofit, and to the construction of new Residential Housing Units (RHU). As such, an additional 41 CAF families had a new house to call home. The Agency’s ingrained culture of persistent improvement in service delivery continued to be at the core of how we delivered our housing program and it is what drives CFHA to be a leader in federal residential housing.

The investments in the housing portfolio enabled the implementation of Canada’s Defence Policy: Strong, Secure, Engaged (SSE), initiative 104^B: Improve Housing for CAF Personnel. Likewise, CFHA engagements with departmental stakeholders resulted in the potential for innovative new housing services in support of initiative 24: Develop a Comprehensive Military Family Plan to stabilize family life for CAF members and their families who frequently have to relocate.

CFHA also focused effort on customer satisfaction and increased engagement. Our relationship with CAF members was at the root of business decision making, and we worked diligently to ensure that we were able to meet their housing expectations. We shifted efforts to a more tailored approach to housing; whether it was providing barrier free and accessible RHUs or in the service we provide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, we strived to achieve value added service. CFHA is humbled that at any given point in time, one in five CAF members choose to live in our housing and we are committed to maintain that trust.

We worked to protect, preserve and restore natural environments by taking an active role in the stewardship of resources. We applied energy efficiency standards to all new builds and renovations, creating a direct impact on lowering energy costs for occupants. CFHA is well positioned to meet targets five, six and eight of the Defence Energy and Environment Strategy (DEES).

Excellence in service delivery would be nothing without our dedicated workforce. As such, CFHA invested in our people to ensure that we continue to have an agile and capable team that possesses the right skills at the right time. Our strong workforce, our dedication to the mission, and our adaptability will ensure that our positive results will continue in future years to come.

David Thompson
Chief Executive Officer
Canadian Forces Housing Agency