Frequently Asked Questions

Partners for Affordable Housing is a social purpose organization. We are in the process of establishing an affiliated charitable foundation and hope to have our charitable status approved by the end of 2024.

Our operating costs have been funded to date by generous partners including the Government of Alberta, The Sarah and Cary Lavine Family Foundation, Bespoke Social Profit Solutions and Ramp Communications, as well as a deep network of expert advisors.

Partners for Affordable Housing has a mandate to support non-profit community housing providers through funding, capacity building and communications. The funds we raise will be dispersed to non-profit community housing providers. We will support pre-construction/feasibility work or provide top-up funding to existing projects that are experiencing funding shortfalls.  Funding from Partners for Affordable Housing will allow non-profit community housing providers to build more permanent, deeply affordable units more quickly.

There is no easy way to define affordable housing. Because income levels vary dramatically, what’s affordable for one person, may not be affordable for another. People with lower incomes require more deeply affordable housing. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), in Canada, housing is considered “affordable” if it costs less than 30 per cent of a household’s before-tax income. People without access to adequate and suitable affordable housing that meets this threshold are said to be in “core housing need.” In markets where housing costs are very high, projects require more subsidies to keep units deeply affordable and accessible to people in core housing need. Our mandate is to support non-profit community housing providers that are creating deeply affordable permanent rental housing, and to keep these units designated as deeply affordable in perpetuity.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), a household is in core housing need if its housing does not meet one or more of the adequacy, suitability or affordability standards (as defined by CMHC here) and the household would have to spend 30 per cent or more of its before-tax income to pay rent and utilities for alternative local market housing that meets all three standards. In a November 2023 report authored by Carolyn Whitzman, she finds Canada is missing 4.4 million homes that are affordable for people in core housing need. That includes a deficit of 3 million homes for low and very low-income households (able to afford less than $1,050 per month for housing) and a further 1.4 million missing homes for moderate and median-income households.

We are a national social purpose organization beginning our work in Alberta and Ontario and will expand according to our capacity and funder priorities.

We recognize that housing challenges differ by region. By engaging with hundreds of stakeholders, we’ve identified both shared and unique regional needs. Our model uses local resources, forms advisory councils, and leverages our fundraising expertise to support individual projects or launch region-specific campaigns.

Our team is working on funding eligibility guidelines in collaboration with our Advisory Council and our Board of Directors.  More information on this topic will be available in coming months.

Our funding application process has not yet opened. If you are a non-profit community housing provider located in Alberta and looking for funding support please connect with us. If you are in another province, please join our mailing list for updates. We will keep you updated about expansion plans.

Our team, spread across Canada, has deep experience in housing initiatives, community awareness, capital campaigns, and forming partnerships. We’ve worked across non-profits, government, and corporate sectors, giving us a comprehensive understanding of the affordable housing landscape.

The affordable housing crisis is too large for any single entity to solve. That’s why we create P4 partnerships, bringing together the public and private sectors, philanthropic donors, and non-profit housing providers. These collaborative partnerships boost investment, foster innovation, increase awareness, provide access to tools and expertise, and share risks.

We tailor our partnership models to fit each partner’s unique needs, whether you’re a non-profit, corporate entity, or government body. We collaborate closely to develop strategies for your priority projects, build a pipeline of aligned supporters, and manage marketing and fundraising efforts at any level. Additionally, we connect you with collaborators who share your values and can contribute to capital initiatives, property management, and social programming, ensuring your projects are well-supported and impactful.