1. The year in review from the Chief Executive Officer - Canadian Forces Housing Agency Annual Report 2021-2022

The Canadian Forces Housing Agency (CFHA), a Special Operating Agency (SOA), provides residential accommodation solutions for Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and their families since 1996.

During Fiscal Year (FY) 2021-2022, CFHA faced many challenges in sustaining operations within the ever-changing pandemic environment. Thanks to the dedication and professionalism of the CFHA staff, the Agency continued to demonstrate its resilience, high level of adaptability and agility as it delivered housing services to roughly 26,000 CAF members and their families, in 11,654 Residential Housing Units (RHUs) across 27 bases and wings in Canada.

Despite the challenges of operating in an ongoing pandemic-posture, CFHA continued to deliver on its mandate during the past year and maintained its level of excellence as an organization by promoting a culture of continuous improvement, modernizing business practices and leveraging the latest tools and technologies for employees, applicants and occupants.

Major strides have been made in the development of key products to promote the digital customer service experience. Four online forms were officially launched in March 2022, prior to the active posting season (APS). Included in the new Services to Occupants section on our web page is the Application for DND Housing form, Notice of Extended Absence form, Changes to Household Information Update Request form and the Repair Request form. These can now be completed and submitted online from anywhere to increase accessibility and enhance the customer experience. A Digital Welcome Kit, which consists of general and site-specific important information, was developed and is provided to all new occupants upon moving into an RHU. This digital package was developed to ensure a consistent occupant experience at all sites across Canada and was implemented for APS 2021, replacing the paper packages previously provided.

Momentum in the recently launched Mobile Workplace project was regained, and all our Housing Service Centers were onboarded in FY 2021-2022. Implementing our electronic directory structure to mirror existing paper files and collaboration through digital access are key elements of the Mobile Workplace. Presentations and Standard Operating procedures have been fine-tuned to provide the tools, knowledge and support to the Agency’s customer service and technical staff. CFHA’s greatest strength is having an engaged and a well-equipped workforce to deliver on the national Military Family Housing Program, in support of Canada’s Defence Policy: Strong, Secured, Engaged.

In FY 2021-2022, the Department of National Defence (DND) allocated $40M/year in-year capital funds, which enabled CFHA to invest over $125M in the residential housing portfolio and housing services, completing construction projects, including 119 recapitalized RHUs, and over a thousand renovations and lifecycle repairs.

In spite of these efforts, due to the ever evolving condition of an aged portfolio, the number of RHUs in ‘below average’ condition increased slightly from 2021 to 2022, going from 1957 to 2148 RHUs as implementation of lifecycle work on RHUs continued to prove challenging in 2022 due to supply chain disruptions, consumer price index increases, as well as contractor and material availability.

In support of the Government of Canada’s (GoC) Greening Government Strategy, much of the work completed contributed to energy efficiency upgrades. CFHA continued its partnership with NRCan to benchmark the energy use and Greenhouse Gas emissions of the housing portfolio, as well as to support the GoC’s 2 Billion Trees initiative by signing a Memorandum of Understanding to plant a total of 14,450 trees at all of CFHA’s sites across Canada over 7 years. In addition, net-zero carbon ready building designs were started. In collaboration with Defence Construction Canada (DCC) and CFHA at the site or regional level, Indigenous benefits were realized primarily through the implementation of voluntary set-asides under the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB). In FY 2021-2022, 4.9% of contracts for these activities were awarded to Indigenous businesses, which surpasses the target of 3%.

CFHA remains committed to delivering the Military Family Housing Program to meet departmental requirements, to exercising diligent stewardship of its resources including the housing assets, and to continuing to improve operations and services to meet the ever-evolving needs of the CAF and its members.