The Government of Canada Launches its First Round of the Housing Supply Challenge

Toronto, October 23, 2020

Every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. To help grow housing supply solutions, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, announced the launch of the first round of the Housing Supply Challenge today.

The first round, Data Driven, seeks solutions to address gaps in housing data which are often outdated, inconsistent and not openly available, making it more difficult to manage housing supply issues. Participants will create technology or methodology-based solutions to improve data collection, sharing, analysis and integration, thus improving decision-making on housing supply. This first round will disburse up to $25 million to fund a variety of new solutions. The Data round aims to create long-term partnerships between data experts, housing experts, researchers, and communities, which will enable the creation of housing supply solutions.

The Housing Supply Challenge will be delivered by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The Data Driven round begins today and will be open for applications until January 20, 2021.

Up to 25 Stage 1 applicants will be shortlisted and given $100,000 in funding to support the development of their final submissions. Then, $22.5 million will be shared among multiple solutions. Funding will be based on stage 2 submissions and will be tied to implementation milestones.

Future rounds of the five-year Housing Supply Challenge will tackle additional issues related to housing supply including:

Northern Housing
Pre-Development Processes
Construction Technology
Scaling Solutions
Public perception of new residential development

The Housing Supply Challenge is being hosted on the Impact Canada platform. Innovators wishing to apply should visit: https://impact.canada.ca/en/challenges/housing-supply-challenge

More information about the Housing Supply Challenge is also available at www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/housingsupplychallenge.

Quotes:

“Every Canadian deserves a home that meets their needs and they can afford. Increasing the supply of housing requires innovative and disruptive thinking. The Housing Supply Challenge will bring forward the best new ideas with the funding to turn those ideas into realities that can address housing supply issues in Canada.”
— The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development

“As a Member of Parliament for a downtown Toronto riding, I hear first-hand about the need for reliable housing supply. All Canadians deserve this. By investing in good data, Canada will be able to make evidence-based decisions, ensuring equitable access to housing. That's good for University-Rosedale, and good for Canada.”
— The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance

Quick facts:

Today’s announcement was held in Toronto, the traditional territories of the Ojibway, the Anishnabe and the Mississauga’s of the New Credit. The territory is covered by the Upper Canada Treaties.
According to the 2016 Census, approximately 1.7 million Canadian households were in core housing need in 2016. Canada requires more housing supply, but there is no single solution to address this need.
To help municipalities grow their housing supply, Budget 2019 provided $300 million in funding over five years to launch a Housing Supply Challenge to address housing supply and unlock new solutions for Canadians searching for an affordable place to call home.
The Challenge aims to provide new resources and find solutions to enhance housing supply and provide a platform to share these models with communities across Canada.
The Challenge will also help address barriers to housing supply and affordability, showcase new ideas and solutions and cultivate collaboration and partnerships.
The Challenge is a component of Impact Canada, a Government of Canada-wide initiative to help federal organizations accelerate the adoption of innovative funding approaches to deliver meaningful results to Canadians.
CMHC has partnered with Evergreen on a support program to help applicants develop the most impactful solutions.
The Challenge aligns with the National Housing Strategy and CMHC’s goal, that by 2030 everyone in Canada has a home they can afford and that meets their needs.

Associated links:

As Canada’s authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. For more information, follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

To find out more about the National Housing Strategy, visit www.placetocallhome.ca.

Information on this release:

Jessica Eritou
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
jessica.eritou@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca

Brie Martin
Media Relations, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)
613-748-4874
bmartin@cmhc-schl.gc.ca