What is community housing?
Community Housing is an umbrella term that describes a variety of non-market housing types characterized by relatively affordable rents. It makes up 3.5% of Canada’s overall housing stock and includes social, below-market and cooperative housing. Typically, rents are subsidized by public sources (federal, provincial/territorial, and/or municipal) so that they can be affordable for tenants. Community housing is a powerful tool for empowering community members, promoting economic and social inclusion, and providing a safe and secure place to call home.
Additional resources
This podcast brings together experts from across the community housing landscape to help listeners understand what community housing is, what it is like to live in, and why it is an important part of solving Canada’s housing challenges. This is a series of six podcasts that provide an in-depth exploration of a different part of the community housing system in each episode.
This report presents the different types of community housing providers in Canada and their roles. It highlights effective housing models to help spread good practices and share new ideas. The document gives an overview of each organization and details key features of their housing models: rent, number of units, types of housing, and who can live there. These features allow readers to compare and contrast different community housing models across Canada. The goal is to share useful information for those involved in housing planning and management.