Housing Research Awards

2024 award recipients

• 2024 CMHC President’s Medal for Outstanding Housing Research
  Sustainable Affordable Housing Total Cost of Building Ownership Analysis: Daniel Dicaire from Ottawa Community Housing and his team analyzed energy performance and costs for a 20-story model building to guide sustainable construction decisions.
• 2024 Gold Roof Award for Housing Research Excellence
  Providing affordable housing within climate limits: A model of sustainable future growth: Keagan Rankin and co-researcher Shoshanna Saxe from the University of Toronto created a simulation model to explore how Canada can meet its housing supply and climate targets.
• 2024 Gold Roof Award for Knowledge to Action
  The City of Hamilton's Housing Sustainability and Investment Roadmap: James Dunn from McMaster University and his team developed a framework, adopted by the City of Hamilton, tackle housing affordability through new construction and preservation.

2023 award recipients

• 2023 CMHC President’s Medal for Outstanding Housing Research:
  ReHousing the Yellowbelt: Rezoning Single-Family Homes as Multiplex Housing: Michael Piper from the University of Toronto and his team’s research focuses on transforming single-detached dwellings to multiplexes in Toronto’s residential neighbourhoods.
• 2023 Gold Roof Award for Housing Research Excellence:
  Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) Project: Alexandra Flynn from the University of British Columbia and her team developed this tool which provides critical data and mapping tools for governments and housing providers.
• 2023 Gold Roof Award for Knowledge to Action:
  Practical Applications of a Women-Centred Approach to Housing Design: Tanyss Knowles and her team from the BC Society of Transition Houses developed an innovative design approach to housing that focuses on the needs of low-income women and their children fleeing violence.

2022 award recipients

• 2022 CMHC President’s Medal for Outstanding Housing Research:
  Climate change and housing loss: Dr. Julia Woodhall-Melnik and team’s research focuses on climate change and housing loss from the 2018 – 2019 flooding of the Wolastoq River in New Brunswick.
• 2022 Gold Roof Award for Housing Research Excellence:
  Making permanent supportive housing work for vulnerable populations: Dr. Abe Oudshoorn’s research explores making permanent supportive housing work for vulnerable populations.

2021 award recipients

• 2021 CMHC President’s Medal for Outstanding Housing Research:
  Improving housing stability among Indigenous residents at Horizon Housing: Shedding light on what might reduce the rate of negative exits among Indigenous residents at Horizon Housing.
• 2021 Gold Roof Award for Housing Research Excellence:
  Who Does the Welfare State Support, and How? Housing for Moderate-Income Households in Three Canadian Provinces, 1975–2015: Closer Targeting of Vulnerable Citizens.
• 2021 Gold Roof Award for Housing Research Excellence:
  Skookum Housing Solutions: Innovative Indigenous Research in Surrey, BC: Taking a look at the rapidly changing urban Indigenous population in Surrey to address systemic housing inequalities.
• 2021 Gold Roof Award for Knowledge to Action:
  K’asho Got’ı̨nę House Assessment Research Project: Exploring the conditions of privately-owned homes in Fort Good Hope as well as the impact of repair and maintenance.

2020 award recipients

• 2020 CMHC President’s Medal for Outstanding Housing Research:
  The Impact of Short-term Rentals on Canadian Housing Using data collection and analysis to investigate the effects of short-term rentals in Canada
• 2020 Gold Roof Award for Housing Research Excellence:
  Step-by-Step Guide to Developing Affordable Housing A clear and easy-to-follow guide from the Alberta Rural Development Network
• 2020 Gold Roof Award for Knowledge to Action:
  Step-by-Step Guide to Estimating Rural Homelessness Collecting data on homelessness and housing insecurity in rural and remote Canadian communities
• 2020 Gold Roof Award for Knowledge to Action:
  Community Benefits of Supportive Housing A tool to address community questions about supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness.

2019 award recipients

• 2019 Gold Roof Award for Housing Research Excellence:
  Eliminating 2SLGBTQIA+ youth and young adult homelessness Understanding how Canada’s first 2SLGBTQIA+ transitional housing program Impacts outcomes for youth
• 2019 Gold Roof Award for Housing Research Excellence:
  Metro Vancouver Transit‐Oriented Affordable Housing Study Studying the challenges and opportunities of developing affordable rental housing close to transit.
• 2019 CMHC President’s Medal for Outstanding Housing Research:
  Innovative solutions to affordable housing challenges Partnerships for Affordable Housing: Policy, Planning and Community Building.

2018 award recipients

• 2018 CMHC President’s Medal for Outstanding Housing Research:
  SEKUWE (My House), Dene First Nation Views on Healthy Homes Using a ‘two-eyed seeing’ approach for housing and health creates culturally appropriate housing.
• 2018 Gold Roof Award for Housing Research Excellence:
  Understanding Rental Housing in a Smaller Community Understand how poverty, abuse and addiction were identified as the main causes of homelessness.

The following are eligibility requirements for all awards. You, the lead applicants must be: 

• a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada
• an active researcher, student or individual working in housing
• in good standing with CMHC
• able to undertake research applicable to one or more of the strategy’s priority areas for action or address Northern or remote housing

Notes: Award-specific eligibility criteria are located on each award page and related Applicant Guide. If you have won in the past, you can’t apply for the same award again.