2. About the Agency - Canadian Forces Housing Agency Annual report 2019-2020
CFHA delivers the DND residential housing program and supporting housing services to the CAF, the CAF members, and their families across Canada. Each year, there are thousands of CAF members relocated throughout the country and in and out of our houses. We ensure that RHUs are move-in ready, well maintained and kept in good repair. Peace of mind at home contributes to CAF families’ resiliency. Many military families choose to live in defence residential housing because it provides them with certainty that their families are safe and secure when the serving member is away from home.
CFHA is a recognized leader in federal housing, effectively managing some 83% of the total Government of Canada’s total housing floor area. We offer housing as an accommodation option to support CAF members and their families as they frequently relocate across Canada as duty demands, and at times, on short notice. This past year, CFHA made a significant effort in modernizing housing service delivery. We concentrated effort on digitizing services, both in terms of occupant interaction and in enabling staff with modern tools to make better use of data in decision making and as secondary result greening operations by reducing the number of paper based transactions.
Understanding that every family has their own unique needs, and in an effort to support Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) requirements, a priority remained offering quality housing that also responds to the varied needs of diverse CAF families, while continuing to ensure a positive occupant experience through customer service excellence. As such, we offer single, semi-detached, row, and barrier-free accessible houses as well as apartments. CFHA works with Defence Team partners to support operational readiness; whether it’s due to a deployment, an exercise away from home, or the upheaval that postings and moving brings, CFHA is dedicated to minimizing disruption for every family that can come from life in the military.
Full text - Statistics
27 locations
27,293 occupants
11,673 Residential Housing Units (RHUs)
2.1 Housing
In 2019-2020, we continued to deliver an ambitious program of lifecycle replacement and capital improvements, with an increased investment focus on improving energy efficiency and in reducing our carbon footprint. As we continued to revitalize communities, we improved the safety, accessibility, energy efficiency, and comfort for our occupants.
2.1.1 Current housing portfolio
11,673 Residential Housing Units
Full text - Current housing portfolio
Row - 21%
Single - 35%
Semi-detached - 38%
Apartment - 6%
CFHA is committed to being transparent, open and accountable to Canadians. As a distinct Program within DND's Departmental Results Framework, CFHA reports results of the Military Family Housing Program annually, through the Departmental Results.
2.1.2 Community revitalization
In order to support an increasingly diverse CAF, CFHA constructed two bedroom apartment RHUs to better suit changing CAF family demographics. Community beautification projects commenced in places such as Saint-Hubert, where we worked to revitalize the neighbourhood. The initiative included the redevelopment of a pedestrian walkway and the installation of new fences and sheds. Likewise, Bagotville contributed to community pride with a yard beautification competition where occupants were encouraged to display their green thumb gardening efforts for curb side appeal. Not only did this bring people together, but it improved the look of the neighbourhood and built a sense of community.
Full text - National RHU Condition Assessment
Pie chart showing Condition Assessment.
New: 4.3%
Above average: 7.7%
Average: 71.8%
Below average: 16.2%
2.1.3 Feature project - Trenton new builds
The Agency announced the completion of six additional residential housing units at 8 Wing Trenton. The project resulted in the construction of two storey houses, each with three bedrooms, an attached garage, and modern amenities that will better serve the needs of CAF members and their families.
Thanks to the innovative thinking of the CFHA team members and delivery partners, the project was completed in just seven months, as protective temporary structures were used to enable construction to continue throughout the winter. The structures helped protect against the elements and maintained an acceptable temperature, allowing for the pouring of the footings and the foundation walls during the winter season. The contract was awarded at the end of November 2018 and due to the team’s great efforts, the first occupants received keys to these RHUs in June 2019.
2.1.4 Feature project – heritage house restoration in Kingston
Situated in one of the oldest cities in Canada, Housing Services Centre (HSC) Kingston is located in an area of historical significance. As such, CFHA manages an RHU designated as a heritage building by the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office. The Agency is honoured to preserve the history of the property for future generations by restoring and properly maintaining the unique heritage characteristics of the RHU.
In 2019 work began on the repair, replacement, and restoration of the columns that support the front veranda of this heritage-designated building. The replacement components were constructed to exactly match the originals, but built with modern materials, techniques, and technology to better withstand the elements in the future.
With our eyes fixed to the future in our modernization efforts, this work remained important in persevering CAF history and Canadian buildings of heritage significance.
2.1.5 Greening initiatives
CFHA is committed to a sustainable future and therefore contributed to meeting the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in line with departmental targets. In accordance to the DEES and the DND Green Building Directive, our goal is to seek certification of new construction apartment buildings as Green Globes. Furthermore, we were able to meet the DEES Target five (Strategy of 2018-2020) which was to achieve an EnerGuide energy performance standard for all new or recapitalized RHUs. In addition we are greening operations, such as digitizing our business processes and, where we are able to, we are continuing to replace the commercial vehicle fleet with hybrid or electric technology.
In the year 2019-2020, the Agency has taken the following steps to reduce its carbon footprint:
- Replaced nine existing Agency vehicles with hybrid cars.
- Application for Green Globes certification began in 2019-2020 for projects in Borden and Moose Jaw for a total of 18 more energy efficient RHUs.
- Continued to use the EnerGuide per Houses (EGH) assessment tool, to ensure CFHA remains a leader in energy efficiency improvements for Crown housing. To that effect, 75% of recapitalizations have tested within 15% of Canada’s National building code.
- CFHA’s assessment results demonstrate that renovations are consistently reducing the overall energy consumption of the housing portfolio and reducing our carbon footprint.
2.1.5.1 Feature project – Kingston tree replacement initiative
The Kingston area has seen many of its mature trees destroyed by the emerald ash borer beetle. The damage from the 1998 ice storm two decades ago has also had a lingering and significant effect on some of the oldest and largest trees at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Kingston. As a result, many large trees have been removed in recent years. CFHA realized that, unless there is a plan to invest in the repopulation of the tree stock, the large shade trees that have been enjoyed for generations throughout the residential housing area could disappear in the not too distant future.
In 2019, fifty new trees were planted. We replaced the trees that had been previously removed and planted even more in additional locations that could be enjoyed by occupants. This project is also an investment in our future. Besides the trees having a GHG scrubbing ability, their strong roots will contribute to mitigating future soil erosion, which is in line with the Greening Government Strategy response to the effects of climate change. We focused on planting species native to the area, expecting that the cottonwoods, hackberries, sugar maples, white spruces and pines will flourish with continued care.
2.2 Customer service
During the fiscal year 2019-2020, CFHA completed around 6,000 housing allocation transactions. We recognize that a move can be stressful. We wish to support CAF members through their move and make the experience as stress free as possible. The CFHA team is dedicated to offer personalized services, in order to meet CAF family needs.
Full text - Move in-Move out
Move in: 3,011
27,293 occupants
Move out: 2,988
2.2.1 Emergency After Hours Services
CFHA is dedicated to provide 24-hour assistance to occupants. We are ready to respond to any unpredictable weather condition or other emergency that may affect RHUs at any time of the day or night. With our emergency afterhours response service (EAHRS) line, our occupants can receive assistance at any time.
Full text - EAHRS statistics
6,325 calls to EAHRS
1,252 service calls
13% less calls from last year
2.2.2 Complaint resolution process
We continued to improve the intake, management and resolution of customer complaints through the Complaint Resolution Process. CFHA analysed customer complaints and inquiries by using data from last year which identifies location and type of issue raised. This proactive process in identifying issues helped management recognize and address systemic issues and to ultimately improve the quality of services to occupants.
2.2.3 Customer satisfaction with contractor performance
CFHA monitors occupant satisfaction with contractor timeliness and responsiveness with repairs and maintenance service requests. Based on previous occupant feedback, we took measures to improve our evaluation of contractor performance. This input helped us optimize front-line services and our occupants’ experiences.
- 73% of occupants are very satisfied with the services they received from a contractor
- 7% increase in the satisfaction of the quality of major renovations from the previous evaluations
- 6% increase in punctuality of contractors for minor repairs from the previous evaluations
Full text - Reduction of complaints
Reduction of 10.3% in complaints and service calls in 2019-2020
2.3 Workforce
In accordance with Beyond 2020’s values of providing an inclusive workplace, CFHA believes that a strong workforce is achieved through its diversity. We fostered a strong relationship with the CAF as we employed military members who were transitioning to the Public Service as well as employing military spouses. Their unique perspective and experiences are assets to the Agency, and have provided us with incredible insight for service improvements. We welcome employment equity groups in our workplace and made it a staffing priority. We celebrated diversity and worked to build inclusivity ensuring that our workforce is comfortable and accepted in the workplace. Furthermore, employees also feel that their employment is a good fit with their skills and interest, which was demonstrated by CFHA’s Public Service Employee Survey results in 2019-2020. Together we provided training to increase functional, technical and operational competency.
Full text - Workforce statistics
293 employees
5 military to civilian transitions
25 students were hired
Full text - Employees' service milestones
5 years of service: 150
10 years of service: 92
20 years of service: 25