More than 500 housing professionals gathered along the beautiful Saint John River in Fredericton for this year’s National Congress on Housing and Homelessness. The congress featured a a program featuring a diversity of topics, over three days. On offer were courses, forums and several unique events.
The Centre was there and brings you these highlights:
Housing School in the spotlight at the opening of CHRA’s national congress
The Centre along with our partners at CHRA, was pleased to host the welcome reception for the 56th National Congress on Housing and Homelessness in Fredericton.
The theme of the event, “Back to High School”, was chosen to highlight the partnership between CHRA, the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and the Centre in our joint effort to establish the Housing School.
The event was first and foremost an opportunity to gather, catch up with old friends and celebrate another Congress. Many participants showed up sporting high school clothing from their era. The Housing School initiative focuses on professional development with a view to establishing sector-wide standards of practice.
Have a look at the photos of the event:
Interested in finding out more about the Housing School?
Read the full article here.
The Canadian Housing Acquisition Fund
One of the highlights of Congress was the session devoted to the Canadian Housing Acquisition Fund. This fund, modelled on British Columbia’s Rental Protection Fund, aims to halt the erosion of affordable rents in the for-profit market. One of the fund’s objectives is to facilitate the acquisition of for profit properties by community organizations thus removing them from the speculative market.
The remarkable success in BritishColumbia inspired the creation of a similar federally financed fund. This approach makes it possible to slow the loss of affordable housing, more rapidly increase community housing stock and the sector’s financial assets.
The efforts of a group led by the CHRA, BC Rental Protection Fund, National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc (NICHI) and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (CHF Canada) have recently borne fruit. On April 4, the federal government announced the creation of the $1.5 billion Canadian Rental Protection Fund.
The fund will provide $1 billion in loans and $470 million in….? to help non-profit organizations and co-operatives purchase existing rental units on the market.
The Indigenous Innovation Forum
This event combined the Innovation Forum and the Indigenous Caucus Day of previous years, providing a platform for discussing housing issues in Indigenous communities across the country.
Two panels provided an opportunity to learn about the prospects for the development of urban Indigenous housing, while delve into several aspects of that development. A round-table discussion highlighted successful projects and shared strategies for achieving a lasting impact on the urban Indigenous housing landscape. The essential problems faced by Indigenous communities were also addressed, with a particular focus on the housing rights and experiences of Indigenous women.
Stefanie Einfeld, Manager of the Centre’s Indigenous Internship Program (IPP), emphasizes the importance of this unique space for diverse voices to be heard and innovative ideas to be shared.
“The opening prayers from elder Charlie Nicholas started the day off beautifully. Jordan Prentice, founder of Kuponya Innovations, provided a powerful presentation on climate action affecting change in construction and how it affects the development of Indigenous housing. The afternoon provided a spotlight on critical issues facing Indigenous communities and housing rights. It was an empowering day that reiterated the importance of having Indigenous voices and perspectives in the discussions regarding housing” said Einfeld.
