Thanks in part to a $50,000 grant from the Centre, Hamilton East Kiwanis Non-Profit Homes and Victoria Park Community Homes are joining forces on a housing development that will see 367 affordable rental units built in Hamilton, Ont. They are experimenting with a new collaborative model that will allow smaller and niche-housing providers to build on their strengths and capacities to better compete with the private sector.
A $1-billion federal grant program for the rapid construction of 3,000 units of affordable housing attracted interest from so many groups that hundreds of viable projects won’t make the cut. The possibility of a renewed RHI program has led housing groups to propose improvements to the hugely popular initiative in anticipation of a second wave of construction to meet the basic needs of Canadians.
Land trusts provide a holistic approach to community building that is often missed in traditional development frameworks. A complementary sector response to Ottawa’s housing crisis, the land trust model will unite several smaller housing providers under one voice where expertise and skills will be shared and disseminated more quickly. The perpetual affordability of the land will allow smaller housing providers to leverage their surpluses for capital repairs, renewal, and redevelopment.
