Alberta Seniors and Community Housing Association: Tools to scale

For many community housing providers, certain questions keep coming back to the table: how can we acquire new buildings without putting the organization at risk? How can we maintain the financial viability of an aging portfolio? And how can boards be better equipped to make complex real estate decisions? These very concrete challenges are at the core of the project led by the Alberta Seniors and Community Housing Association (ASCHA). ASCHA undertook an initiative to strengthen the capacity of community housing organizations to acquire, manage, and sustain their assets. Supported by a $150,000 grant from the Centre’s Sector Transformation Fund – Sectoral Impact Projects for this phase of the project (phase 2), and part of a broader multi-year grant totaling $639,000, this initiative resulted in a set of tools and resources with relevance far beyond Alberta.

The project offers several practical takeaways for organizations across the sector, particularly in asset acquisition, financial viability, and inter-organizational collaboration.

Asset acquisition: better equipping boards

One of the key lessons from the project relates to the challenges of acquiring buildings.

In many organizations, boards are required to make major decisions regarding acquisitions or asset transfers, often without deep expertise in real estate or financing. This can limit opportunities or, conversely, expose organizations to significant risks.

To address this, ASCHA developed an acquisition guide for its members. The tool provides a structured approach to assessing opportunities, evaluating risks, negotiating transactions, and planning implementation.

Financial viability: exploring mixed-income models

Another core component of the project focuses on the financial viability of community housing portfolios.

In a context where public programs do not always cover all needs, many providers are exploring approaches that combine affordable housing with market units to support project sustainability.

ASCHA developed a financial modelling tool for mixed-income projects, along with a simplified calculator to help organizations test different scenarios.
For leadership teams and boards, these tools aim to make complex financial concepts more accessible, including real estate pro formas and revenue balancing in mixed-use projects. They also help structure strategic discussions around revenue diversification and long-term asset management.

“These tools allow organizations to make decisions without relying solely on external experts or costly resources.” — Severn Nelson, program manager for British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba at the Centre.

Resource sharing and consolidation: strengthening sector capacity

The project also explored opportunities for resource sharing between organizations.

In many jurisdictions, the community housing sector is made up of numerous small and mid-sized organizations. This reality can limit capacity in areas such as property management, administration, financial planning, and project development.

The resources developed by ASCHA examine different ways organizations can share services or consolidate certain functions, improving efficiency while building organizations that can grow, innovate, and expand their impact.

These reflections align with ongoing discussions in several provinces about more structured collaboration models within the sector.

Understanding the ecosystem: the importance of sector analysis

Beyond operational tools, the project included an analysis of the needs and capacities of community housing providers in Alberta.

This exercise helped identify strengths, vulnerabilities, and priorities across the sector. For many sector associations, this type of analysis is essential to guide the development of tools, training programs, and support initiatives tailored to real needs.

ASCHA’s work highlights the value of investing in a deep understanding of sector dynamics before designing solutions.

Municipal engagement and broader collaboration

The initiative also emphasized the role of municipalities within the community housing ecosystem.

In several Alberta cities, municipal policies play a key role in enabling affordable housing development. The project therefore included efforts to raise awareness among elected officials about the economic and social value of community housing.

For housing providers, this underscores the importance of building strong relationships with local governments, which influence many aspects of project development.

Contributing to sector transformation

By supporting initiatives like ASCHA’s, the Centre helps strengthen organizations’ ability to address key challenges, whether related to portfolio growth, financial viability, or sector collaboration.

For community housing providers across the country, the tools and lessons from this project offer practical insights to inform their own practices and, depending on their context, explore new approaches to organizational development and sustainability.

As the sector continues to grow and evolve to meet the scale of the housing crisis, initiatives like this highlight the importance of investing in the tools, knowledge, and capacities that enable organizations to scale.