In March 2024, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation hosted a national housing conference on the theme “Unlocking Solutions Together,” which was attended by housing professionals from across the country, including the Agency’s CEO, Olga Tasci. CMHC has recently released a report entitled What We Heard, which captures significant points of agreement.
In his keynote address, Minister Sean Fraser described housing supply gaps and the problem of affordability, which has a different meaning for renters, younger people wishing to purchase their first home and the most vulnerable who cannot pay for basic rental housing at current market rates.
Speakers agreed that the housing crisis can be solved only through the development of a range of housing types that serve these various needs. They placed special emphasis on affordable and non-market housing, not forgetting the requirements of Indigenous communities.
Minister Fraser advised that the federal government needs to invest directly and for the long-term in affordable housing. Government is already making federal lands available and providing financial support for co-operative housing through programs like the one launched earlier this year.
We would add that extending rental assistance programs such as the Federal Community Housing Initiative (FCHI-2) would help address the deeper affordability needs of Canada’s most vulnerable.
Conference delegates also heard about municipal initiatives to support the development of non-market housing. The link between municipal infrastructure and housing was mentioned repeatedly. Local infrastructure and intentional design were seen as enablers for building communities and creating socially connected housing. To address the supply shortfall, speakers advocated for innovations in construction such as modular building, 3D printing and land-use planning systems.
Of particular interest to the Agency, the need for data-driven solutions arose repeatedly. Speakers spoke of leveraging research and data to inform policy decisions. This is an area of great interest for the Agency as we have a repository of data on close to twenty years of co-op housing operations. This is a resource that can guide the next generation of non-market housing.
While the Agency recognizes the importance of increased housing supply, we are focused on preserving the earlier public investment in the existing co-operative housing for the long term.