Cultural Perspectives and Solutions for Indigenous Housing in Calgary

PDF - Report

The City of Calgary is Alberta’s largest Indigenous urban hub but has limited access to distinctions-based Indigenous affordable housing.

Previous sustainable housing frameworks have not been viewed from the perspective of Indigenous stakeholders and community members. The urbanization of Indigenous cultures has also influenced a pan-Indigenous approach to developing the concept of Indigenous-specific housing.

As a result, community stakeholders identified the need to understand:

the unique needs of Indigenous tenants
how to create culturally informed Indigenous housing
how to improve housing stability for Indigenous community members living in Calgary

This Research Insight summarizes a project that received financial support from the Research and Planning Fund to address this gap.

Author:: CMHC
Document Type:: PDF
Date Published:: April 27, 2022

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Project overview

The project team used 3 methods to understand the relationship between solutions for increased sustainability and affordable housing in Calgary, Alberta.

An international environmental scan of Indigenous housing solutions in settler-colonial settings (Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand).
A housing provider survey to explore a present current-state analysis of housing for Indigenous peoples.
Focus groups of frontline staff and individuals of lived experience.

Key findings

The following are some of the key findings that emerged from the research and informed the later stages of the work:

Successful housing models included improving access to ceremonial spaces and integrating community members.
To increase community integration and reduce evictions, establish targets for Indigenous tenancy and build stronger awareness of unique needs.
Client autonomy is a vital factor in increasing personal agency among Indigenous community members and advancing the values that define Indigenous culture.

Implications for the housing industry

The findings of this research have several implications for the housing sector:

Invest in culturally informed transitional housing models. The idea is to support urban migration as a preventative measure, assisting the integration of migrating Indigenous populations into urban environments.
Create a separate housing indicator. This indicator will respond to the local definition of affordable and safe housing to support tracking the changes in housing needs over time.
Support cultural security. This is done by acknowledging the diversity of cultural needs and offering appropriate and distinct support. Also, creating relational capacity as part of the guiding design factors.

For more information and key recommendations, consult the full report (PDF).

About CMHC’s Indigenous Housing Research

Working in collaboration with government and Indigenous partners, CMHC is committed to advancing research to support the goals of the National Housing Strategy and inform improvements to Indigenous housing outcomes in Canada.

CMHC supports research on priorities identified by Indigenous organizations and communities.  