Message from the President, Tim Ross and Stéphan Corriveau, Executive Director
More than 1.7 million households across Canada are living in housing need – this means that they’re living in homes that are either inadequate or unaffordable. Public institutions and governments of all levels have decided to join forces to facilitate the achievement of the common goal of ensuring a home for all.
A year ago, the Centre was set up to support, encourage and facilitate the actions of thousands of community housing groups, working on the ground, to achieve this objective.
A new player in the bustling world of community housing, the Centre is the result of an exemplary collaboration between the main existing organizations. They have long seen the need of increased collaboration to enable the mechanisms already in place to act even more effectively.
Above all, the Centre offers the entire movement the means to intervene in a daring way and explore avenues of action that are not encouraged by traditional programs. In fact, the Centre aspires to be the tool of a true cultural revolution in community housing.
By emphasizing the enhancement of the organizational capacities of the stakeholders, it broadens horizons and envisions the future beyond a simple repetition of past actions.
Too often over the past 25 years, official policies have prevented our sector from adequately responding to the challenges that society’s evolution brought to housing. The very real consequences of this inability have been the emergence of mass homelessness, a dramatic rise in rents and the spread of unbridled real estate speculation with disastrous social and financial consequences for the vast majority.
It is therefore important to underline the financial contribution and organizational openness that Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has shown in this adventure. Without the Corporation, we would not have succeeded in gathering the necessary means to launch the Centre.
The NHS is an expression of the desire to make a real difference in the housing sector. The Centre will act as an important resource in the community housing sector, ultimately playing an integral role in the NHS.
We must, however, remain realistic, because in light of these ambitious objectives, the means available to the Centre are very modest. But, doing a lot with a little is certainly a hallmark of the movement, and the report that follows undoubtedly confirms that we are indeed the heir to the sector’s energy and creativity.
To read the full Annual Report.
