About Us

Phase I: How We Got Here (click to expand)

Our mandate for Phase I was to gather information from organizations and individuals with lived experience in the community housing sector. What we learned will inform the needs and priority areas for the sector in Phase II. The following outlines Phase I:

NOVEMBER 2017

Government of Canada announced the National Housing Strategy, which includes $241 million in new spending on “housing research and data”.

SPRING 2018

CHMC partnered with SSHRC to create the Collaborative Housing Research Network. It is structured around 5 thematic nodes and one research hub.

NOVEMBER 2018

We submitted a partnership application for the Community Housing Sustainability thematic node.

MARCH 2019

Application successful! We joined the Collaborative Housing Research Network, with one year of initial funding.

FALL 2019

We held a series of Café Pracadémique events across Canada in order to define the priorities for a national research program focused on the sustainability and resilience of community housing in Canada.

We produced "What We Heard" reports for each Café, which can be accessed here:

Saint John Café

Edmonton Café

Hamilton Café

Vancouver Café

Winter 2019-2020

We used what we learned to apply for a five-year partnership grant, which was successful! In Phase II, we will continue with the Collaborative Housing Research Network, with 5 years of funding. This grant will allow us to fund research projects across Canada that address the needs of community housing providers and tenants.



Phase II: Current Work


Our mandate: to combine expertise from the academic and community housing sectors to create and mobilize knowledge. Our mission: to strengthen community housing sector’s capacity so it can meet the needs of the 1 in 8 Canadian households who need support realizing their right to housing.


  • Our proposed project is built around six Research Clusters: five Areas of Inquiry, and one Cross-Cutting Theme, each centred on a substantive community housing issue.

  • Each Research Cluster is a team directed by an Academic Lead and made up of community housing organizations and academic researchers.

  • Each Research Cluster will produce public reports communicating key findings and their implications for policy and practice.

We have six core objectives:

1. To foster understanding and support operationalization of a rights-based approach to community housing

2. To improve the environmental performance of community housing buildings.

3. To assess the role of community housing in promoting social inclusion and economic opportunity

4. To document diverse models of community housing, and evaluate their efficiency and effectiveness

5. To identify alternative understandings of the purpose and function of community housing, and determine their implications for investment in the sector

6. To ensure the research is attentive to the needs of vulnerable Canadians.

There are 5 boxes, each a different colour, corresponding with each Area of Inquiry. Underneath the squares is a long rectangle which says "cross cutting theme" with support pillars superimposed. The text reads: Each Area of Inquiry is under the direction of an Academic Lead and is focused on a substantive policy issue, while the cross-cutting theme informs and supports the Inquiries.

Join the Team

  • Community housing organizations of all sizes are invited to consider joining our 5-year partnership! Your organization's involvement will help shape our research projects and ensure they translate into the actions necessary to achieve sustainable and resilient community housing. Contact us.

  • Interested in joining our partnership as a graduate student? We are now recruiting for Masters and PhD positions across Canada! More information regarding the research goals and potential supervisors of each Area of Inquiry can be found via the navigation bar.