Housing Affordability
Housing affordability refers to the accessibility of housing options that are reasonably priced relative to individual or household incomes, ensuring that Albertans can secure adequate shelter without facing financial hardship.
NewsWood Buffalo Housing receives grant to furnish accommodations
July 20, 2020 – Wood Buffalo Housing learned last month that they are the successful recipient of a grant provided by the Alberta Real Estate Foundation to create affordable furnished accommodations for the people of the Wood Buffalo Region. Funding from this initiative will provide 30 single and multi-family units in one of Alberta’s most progressive communities, meeting immediate housing needs during these challenging times. In the long-term, these units will also provide bridge accommodations as people look to establish longer-term real estate options.
NewsRentSmart Alberta: Increasing Housing Stability in Alberta
People renting a place to live want a safe, suitable, and affordable home. Landlords want their tenants to pay the rent on time and take good care of the property. But knowing how to be a good tenant or a good landlord doesn’t always come naturally.
ResourcePaths for Housing Co-operatives
The goal of this project is to support the creation of sustainable, efficient, and resilient housing co-ops in Alberta. Despite minimal growth of new housing co-operatives in Alberta, a co-op model can effectively engage tenant-members in making decisions that provide affordable options, a range of community benefits, and be good stewards of the housing stock.
ResourceAccessibility in Housing Matters
Accessible Housing is a leading organization providing affordable housing for people with limited mobility through accessible housing. This report provides background socio-economic data surrounding persons with disabilities and couples this with industry interviews with leading non-profit affordable housing providers to assess the existing market for accessible housing within Calgary.
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Investigation into Present and Future Cooperative Housing
Co-op housing is an essential piece of the housing continuum in Alberta and Canada. However, as government subsidies continue to dwindle and current co-op assets face increasing maintenance costs, a number of units are threatened. This project will assess the financial needs of current co-ops, research solutions, and put forward recommendations for new co-op housing models such as the Limited Equity Housing Co-Ops (LEHCs), land trusts, and other models.
ResourceHealthy Homes & Healthy Communities Toolkit
The COVID-19 pandemic and related public health have drawn people’s attention to how critically important their homes, neighbourhoods, and communities are to their health. Public health works proactively to create the conditions for long-term recovery by focusing not only on the disease but on promoting the health of people. Healthy people are the foundation of a healthy economy.
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Creating emergency accommodations for Wood Buffalo Housing
This project will provide 30 multi-family units in one of Alberta’s most progressive communities that through the last few years have been going through extraordinary change. This project will meet immediate needs in this extraordinary time of multiple stressors in the community with industry in flux, COVID-19 and now in the wake of a major wildfire and now a flood. In the long-term, these units will provide bridge accommodations as people look to longer-term real estate options.
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Fort Vermilion & Area Seniors’ & Elders’ Lodge
There is an under-reported demand for supportive living facilities in Fort Vermilion and the surrounding area. The Fort Vermilion & Area Seniors & Elders Lodge Board 1788 is leading a community based initiative to create more supportive living space. By working with subject matter experts in various fields, this group will create a hopefully replicable process for other grassroots movements to follow.
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ANPHA Regional Housing Collective
ANPHA seeks to provide leadership to advance the affordable housing sector and act as a convener and resource to connect stakeholders from a wide variety of sources who could benefit from information sharing, networking and direct support. This project will establish an opportunity for individuals and organizations within the non-profit housing sector to establish strong regional relationships with one another, and both the provincial and national sector. Uniting the sector together will result in a stronger unified voice that can accomplish collectively what could not be done individually.
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Market Assessment for Accessible Housing in Calgary
With the current economic and health crisis, Albertans need options related to accessible, suitable housing more than ever. This feasibility study and market assessment will identify gaps in Calgary regarding accessible, affordable housing and establish plans to meet the demands in community, including what type of programs and services need to be developed.
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The Impacts of Community Housing Developments on Local Neighbourhoods
Community housing continues to be a significant need in Alberta and across Canada. At Capital Regional Housing alone, they currently have more than 10,000 households on a waitlist for the housing programs they provide. In 2018, the City of Edmonton introduced a new five-year affordable housing framework that seeks to have 16 per cent affordable housing in all Edmonton communities.
ResourceResponding to Community Opposition to Affordable Housing
Social and affordable housing has a wide range of benefits for families and for communities. However, when new affordable housing developments are announced they often face community opposition, which can be a barrier to building these much-needed developments.