The CMHC President’s Medal for Outstanding Housing Research recognizes a significant research contribution that helps us achieve our aspiration to make housing affordable for everyone in Canada.

IMPORTANT
The initiative focuses on completed or near completed research activities.

This research:

• increases knowledge in one of the National Housing Strategy’s priority areas
• addresses a priority action area identified by CMHC’s President — this year the theme is Improving the Financial Viability and Sustainability of Affordable Housing in Canada

Your research should aim to address these questions:

• Does the research deepen our understanding of the barriers and potential solutions to improving the financial viability and sustainability of affordable housing in Canada?
• Does the research provide new knowledge, tools or approaches with the potential to strengthen the financial viability and/or sustainability of affordable housing projects over the long term?

This year’s President’s Medal theme seeks to highlight research that improves our understanding of the barriers and opportunities to improving the financial viability and long-term sustainability of affordable housing projects. 

Examples of potential research may include studies that offer new insight or evidence into:

• green building features that pass energy savings along to owners and occupants
• innovative financing models for community housing
• novel approaches to reduce capital and operating costs 

Research into other measures that ensure the overall financial sustainability of affordable housing and contribute to the economic health of communities will also be considered.

To be eligible for the CMHC President’s Medal for Outstanding Housing Research, you must be:

• a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada
• an active researcher
• in good standing with CMHC

Your research must:

• be related to, or potentially applicable to one or more of the National Housing Strategy’s priority areas of action
• address the 2024 theme of Improving the Financial Viability and Sustainability of Affordable Housing in Canada

Note: Past award recipients can’t apply for this award again. Research projects that have received an award in past years are not eligible to receive an award in the subsequent year.

Follow these steps to apply:

• Create an online profile and record of your application in the application portal.
• Upload your application and required documentation.

PRO TIP! Use this Applicant Guide (PDF) to understand and complete the application process.

Required files for your application

Complete these forms and gather the required information then upload to your account in the CMHC portal:

• Award Application Form (PDF)*
• Three letters of reference
• Résumé for each of the lead applicants and all co-applicants

*PRO TIP! To use the interactive PDF, right click (Ctrl + click on Mac) the link to save the file, and then open it in Adobe Acrobat.

A multidisciplinary review committee will evaluate all eligible complete applications using pre-established selection criteria and recommend the recipients of the award.

The committee may include individuals from academia as well as the private, not-for-profit and public sectors. CMHC reserves the right to make the final selection of recipients.

Please refer to the Applicant Guide (PDF) for the evaluation process and scoring criteria.

Other conditions you need to know

• Funding of the award is conditional on the signing of a recipient award agreement.
• The lead applicant of the recipient research project may be asked to attend an award ceremony planned for the fall.
• You need to submit a report within 6 months of funding disbursement. It must highlight how you used the award funds to promote and extend your research.