Partners for Affordable Housing today announced the first round of Tenant Stability Fund grants, distributing more than $860,000 to 10 nonprofit organizations in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Nunavut. The announcement kicks off Address the Crisis, a National Housing Week campaign (November 22–28) working to ensure all Canadians have a safe place to call home.
The fund is generously supported by founding donors RBC, BMO, Peakhill Capital, Peoples Group, Sharon Siebens, Shaw Family Foundation, and an anonymous donor from Alberta.
As a national connector and catalyst, Partners for Affordable Housing identified and evaluated organizations doing strong work in their local communities and brought donors together with them, so philanthropic dollars reach the people and places where they matter most. Several funded organizations will share their work in a webinar on November 20.
The need and the fund
The need is significant. One in three Canadians is facing housing insecurity, and 4.4 million homes are needed to alleviate the current housing shortage. For some people, instability begins with one missed paycheque or an unexpected rent shortfall. For others, it starts at a moment of major transition, such as leaving homelessness, violence, foster care or the justice system without the support to secure a home.
The Tenant Stability Fund takes a different approach to philanthropic giving. Rather than funding a single program, it gives trusted nonprofits flexible capital to use at exactly the right moment, for needs that are too urgent, too individual or too hard to fund through traditional programs. One household may need a deposit. Another may need a few months of rent support. Another may need someone in their corner, so there is food in the fridge, steady work and a place that feels like home. The fund complements public programs rather than replacing them.
Donate now at addressthecrisis.ca.
“There is no shortage of great housing solutions in Canada. What’s missing is visibility for the people who want to help. What’s powerful about the Tenant Stability Fund is that any funder, anywhere, can contribute at any level, open doors for people in need and steady a tenancy right away. We are grateful to our founding donors and to the organizations doing this work every day. Together, we are addressing the crisis.” – Jolene Livingston, Founder & CEO, Partners for Affordable Housing
“At RBC, we recognize that everyone should have access to safe and stable housing, so we aim to support systemic change through strategic community investments, and support for innovative, community-led solutions. We focus on initiatives that improve access to safe, secure and stable housing, particularly for those facing the greatest barriers. RBC is proud to support the Tenant Stability Fund, which aims to help people stay housed and move into stable homes while strengthening families and communities.” – Gayle Corcoran, Senior Director, Social Impact, RBC
Projects in communities across the country
“Support from the Tenant Stability Fund strengthens the Calgary Drop-In Centre’s ability to move people from homelessness into permanent housing. The fund helps remove the financial barriers that often stand between homelessness and housing, making it possible for some of Calgary’s most vulnerable residents to access safe, stable housing and build a foundation for long-term stability.” – Kevin Webb, Director, Emergency Shelter & Housing, Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre Society
A full list of the 10 funded projects follows below.
About the Tenant Stability Fund
The Tenant Stability Fund provides adaptable funding through nonprofit and community housing providers to support households in accessing, maintaining, or transitioning into affordable housing. Organizations apply to the fund, and Partners for Affordable Housing raises and manages the funds.
About Partners for Affordable Housing
Partners for Affordable Housing is a national nonprofit that works with public, private, philanthropic and nonprofit provider partners to align capital, strengthen partnerships and accelerate community-led affordable housing solutions. Through the affordable housing directory Front Door, focused funding initiatives and capacity-building, Partners for Affordable Housing makes strong projects and programs more visible, connects them with the right people and resources, and builds the conditions for progress. Community organizations lead the work on the ground; Partners strengthens the system around them. The Harvest Impact Foundation is the affiliated charity of Partners for Affordable Housing.
About Address the Crisis
Address the Crisis is Partners for Affordable Housing’s National Housing Week campaign (November 22-28), a bold platform that unites donors, governments, developers and communities around the housing issue and secures the capital needed to solve it.
Media Contact
Sara Falconer, Director of Marketing & Communications
Partners for Affordable Housing
sara.falconer@pfah.ca
2026 Tenant Stability Fund projects
- Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre Society (Calgary, AB): Flexible one-time financial assistance covers first month’s rent, damage deposits and move-in costs for shelter guests moving into housing.
- Downtown Eastside Community Land Trust (Vancouver, BC): Coming Home to Powell Rooms supports residents with histories of chronic homelessness through a peer Building Kokum role rooted in Indigenous traditions of community care, Elder-guided healing circles and a tenant-controlled emergency stability fund.
- Elizabeth Fry Society of Calgary (Calgary and surrounding communities, AB): Aispomm’ohsiiksi Indigenous Housing provides stable, affordable and culturally safe housing with ongoing cultural supports, including for Indigenous women leaving federal prison and families being reunified.
- Kehilla Affordable Housing (Toronto, ON): The Rental Assistance Program supports households paying more than 35% of their income on rent, including families, seniors, youth aging out of foster care and people fleeing domestic violence.
- The Mustard Seed Foundation (Red Deer and area, AB): The Diversion Program removes financial barriers to housing, such as first month’s rent, damage deposits, arrears and utilities.
- Operation Come Home (Ottawa, ON): HousingWorks gives youth aged 16–25 experiencing homelessness affordable apartments through head-leasing. Funds will help participants pay arrears.
- Ruth & Naomi’s Mission (Chilliwack and the Fraser Valley, BC): Pathways Home combines a prevention and diversion case manager, a flexible emergency assistance fund and food supports that free up income for rent.
- Uquutaq Society (Iqaluit, NU): A Peer Support Worker with lived experience of homelessness will provide culturally appropriate support for Inuit shelter guests and transitional housing participants.
- WoodGreen Community Services (Toronto, ON): The Eviction Prevention Program supports tenants at risk of eviction due to rent arrears and adds a dedicated rent bank.
- YWCA Banff (Bow Valley, AB): A Housing Coordinator will provide proactive tenancy support across shelter, transitional and affordable housing programs, with a reserve fund for residents facing acute rent crises.