Government of Canada launches Round Five of the Housing Supply Challenge and announces funding for Action Research

From: Infrastructure Canada

News release

Halifax, Nova Scotia, November 8, 2023 — To help find innovative and faster ways to increase Canada’s housing supply, Minister Sean Fraser announced $65 million in funding for Round Five of the Housing Supply Challenge. Additionally, Minister Fraser announced $18.1 million in funding to support the Action Research on Chronic Homelessness (ARCH) initiative. This initiative will build on the Government of Canada’s commitment to ending chronic homelessness.

Round Five of the Housing Supply Challenge, Level-Up, will mobilize and enable industry players to adopt system-level solutions that will help produce housing at a faster rate, and make the entire process easier and more cost effective. This round will also include a new stream dedicated to bringing non-profit community housing innovators  together to rapidly enable the adoption and adaptation of innovations to address the unique barriers that they face and, in turn, transform the sector for the betterment of all.

Meanwhile, the projects supported by the ARCH initiative – a part of Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy – will identify persistent barriers communities face in reducing and preventing chronic homelessness, test potential approaches to overcoming them, and share the successes and challenges discovered along the way.

Eight projects have been co-developed with communities across the country. They are Whitehorse, Yukon; Brandon, Manitoba; Medicine Hat and Edmonton, Alberta; Sudbury, London and Hamilton, Ontario; and, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

We are facing a housing crisis today, and not only do we need to resolve it we need to ensure that it never happens again. The federal government and its partners recognize that this requires an “all hands on deck” approach, targeted research, and innovative solutions to scale. 

Quotes

“Housing and homelessness have a direct impact on the health and wellbeing of all Canadians. With the current housing crisis Canada is facing, Round Five of the Housing Supply Challenge will increase Canada’s capacity to provide more housing for Canadians in a better, faster, and more cost-effective way. In parallel, to ensure we end chronic homelessness, we are working directly with communities to help address the needs of the most vulnerable Canadians.”

The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

Quick facts

  • The Housing Supply Challenge (HSC) was announced in Budget 2019, which allocated $300 million over five years to help municipalities grow their housing supply. The first round launched in the fall of 2020.

  • Right now, as a result of the Housing Supply Challenge, companies, not-for-profit organizations, and more are exploring faster and cheaper ways to build accessory dwelling units, new and more sustainable modular housing building techniques, and easier and more efficient ways to support new community-led housing projects.

  • The Challenge is one initiative under the National Housing Strategy, a 10-year initiative with investments of more than $82 billion, launched to give more Canadians the home that they deserve.

  • The HSC is being delivered by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and aims to: 

    • provide new resources and find solutions to enhance housing supply;
    • provide a platform to share these models with communities across Canada; and,
    • help address barriers to housing supply and affordability, showcase new solutions, and cultivate partnerships. 

  • Reaching Home is a community-based program aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness across Canada. This program provides funding and support to urban, Indigenous, territorial, rural, and remote communities to help them address their local needs. 

  • Through Reaching Home, the federal government has committed nearly $4 billion over 9 years to address homelessness.

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Contacts

For more information (media only), please contact:

Micaal Ahmed
Communications Manager
Office of the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
(343) 598-3920
micaal.ahmed@infc.gc.ca

Media Relations
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
media@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
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