NHS Demonstrations Initiative

Showcasing innovative practices, technologies, programs, policies and strategies

Next call for applications is in June 2021.

Learn about the 2020 Successful Projects.

The National Housing Strategy Demonstrations Initiative highlights innovative solutions aiming to improve the performance, viability and effectiveness of affordable housing by providing a platform to:

create and disseminate real-world data and information on affordable housing
demonstrate innovative solutions that aim to improve the performance, viability and effectiveness of affordable housing solutions
foster a culture of innovation in the affordable housing sector that will better meet the housing needs of Canadians

The Demonstrations initiative offers solutions aiming to:

strengthen, better equip and innovate the affordable housing sector
increase stakeholder’s awareness, knowledge and acceptance of promising innovations

Demonstration formats include on-site tours, virtual tours, best-practices guides, case studies, factsheets, website content, user experience videos, surveys and innovation profiles.

Projects are funded through an annual open-call, merit-based competitive process.

Directed Demonstrations: We may also fund demonstration initiatives led by external organizations in areas of strategic interest that are aligned with the National Housing Strategy and federal priorities.

The Demonstrations Initiative in action: Find out how funding demonstrates the value of innovative solutions for people experiencing homelessness in London, Ontario to have affordable place to call home. Find other similar success stories here.

SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS

2020 Successful Projects

Hey Neighbour Collective: Social Sustainability Innovations for Affordable Multi-Unit Rental Housing
This project will generate evidence-based data about diverse and innovative approaches for the community and private housing sectors. The goal is to increase their capacity to manage and create socially sustainable and resilient housing for Canadians living in multi-unit contexts.

SAFERhome Universal Design Affordable Housing Demonstration
This project will outline, demonstrate and establish new best practices for building affordable, accessible and environmentally conscious housing. It will focus on tangible aging in place solutions, adaptive, intuitive and affordable housing, combined with new and emerging technologies.

Scalable, Sustainable Companion Housing Model for Vulnerable Populations
Happipad is a web-based platform enabling peer-to-peer formation of companion housing arrangements. This project will expand the impact of Happipad’s technology by demonstrating a scalable, sustainable model to deliver affordable housing opportunities targeting vulnerable populations.

Automatic Fire Suppression System Demonstration to Protect Homes in Indigenous Communities
The Guardian Fire Shield protection is an automatic, affordable, post-construction fire suppression system. The demonstration site will seek to inspire other Indigenous communities, Fire Chiefs, and local governments through their inspection of how easily the system can be installed into current dwellings with or without sprinkler systems.

The Vienna House Multi-Unit Affordable Housing Demonstration Initiative
The Vienna House will showcase: prefabrication, low-carbon emissions design, building information modeling, integrated design and collaboration, and knowledge mobilization.

A Toolkit for Affordability Driven Home Energy Efficiency Retrofits Through Local Improvement Charge Programs
This project will demonstrate and develop innovative packaged energy efficiency and health and safety measures to support seniors aging in place. This includes heat pumps combined with solar photovoltaic panels to provide low-cost cooling.

Implementing the Right to Housing in the Supportive Housing Sector
This project seeks to enhance the capacity of renters to navigate rental housing laws and systems for more stable and successful tenancies. Within the supportive housing and service provider sector, it will seek to increase legal competency, awareness, leadership and accountability around accessibility and equity issues.

The Shift: Supporting Human-Rights Based Housing Strategies (Directed Demo)
This project aims to equip cities with knowledge and tools (case studies, toolkits, consultation frameworks) required to apply a human rights-based lens to housing strategies. The outcomes, feedback and lessons learned will bring new insights that will strengthen these strategies.

Collaborative Innovative Partnerships for Financing Affordable Housing (Directed Demo)
This project aims to demonstrate a more effective means for non-profit housing providers to fundraise the equity necessary to advance their projects, while engaging the private sector and broader community to make affordable housing everyone’s concern. By providing tools, templates and guides, the goal is to accelerate the replication of a fundraising approach.

Regent Park: World Urban Pavilion (Directed Demo)
The Pavilion will be a physical and virtual knowledge exchange hub in support of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the New Urban Agenda. It will showcase and facilitate sharing science, research and innovation in urban revitalization. There will be an emphasis on housing and housing affordability, including the lived experiences of NHS vulnerable populations.

Evergreen: Future Cities Canada: Unexpected Solutions (Directed Demo - Completed)
A virtual demonstration platform that showcased housing innovations and connected the people behind them; providing the opportunity to increase awareness and the capacity needed to scale innovative solutions across the housing and urban innovation.

2019 Successful Projects

Kijaté: An Innovative Urban Aboriginal Social Housing Solution
This project will demonstrate an Aboriginal social housing project providing access to affordable, adequate and stable housing.

My Home My Community: Pathways to Homeownership National Demonstration Initiative
This project seeks to improve housing stability, affordability, and choice for people with developmental disabilities.

Promoting affordability and social wellbeing: implementing design and social programming in multi-unit housing
This project aims to demonstrate and share the social and affordable benefits of thoughtful design and social programming.

ARDN Step-By-Step Guide to Developing Affordable Housing
The step-by-step guide highlights best practices in planning, developing, and operating affordable rental housing.

2018 Successful Projects

Energy efficient solutions to thermal stress for vulnerable Canadians
Demonstrating cold climate air-source heat pumps (CC-ASHPs) as energy efficiency retrofit solutions for electrically heated Multi-Residential Buildings.

A winning revitalization approach
Discover the San Romanoway Revival project, a successful approach to revitalizing aging affordable housing developments.

From Emergency Shelter to Affordable Housing with Support
Showcasing how emergency shelters can successfully transition to providing affordable housing with support functions.

Modular Construction for Sustainable and Affordable Community Housing
Exploring the potential of an emerging and increasingly used strategy for designing and constructing high-performance buildings in reduced timeframes.

My Home, My Community: Pathways to inclusive affordable housing
Enabling the inclusion of people living with developmental disabilities in communities.

Smart Homes: supporting community integration
Evaluating Smart Homes’ potential for supporting independent living for people living with mental illness

Innovative approach to supportive housing
Discovering Indwell’s integrated approach: Passive House performance levels, community financing programs, community participation strategies and supportive services.

Affordable housing options to prevent youth homelessness
Exploring the Reside program, the proposed solution to help prevent youth homelessness.

Transformation towards Universal Design
Meeting changing needs for seniors and people living with disabilities.

FUND DETAILS

ELIGIBILITY AND REQUIREMENTS

To be eligible for this initiative projects must:

be located in Canada
include an affordable housing “Host” as partners and collaborators
align with the strategy’s priority areas and priority populations
demonstrate a solution of a minimum of Readiness Level of 7 (prototype has been tested in a simulated environment and is ready to be demonstrated in a real-world environment)
showcase cutting-edge, innovative technologies, practices, programs, policies and strategies
be replicable and near- or market-ready solutions to affordable housing challenges
be delivered and completed within an 18-month timeframe

Projects may address any housing form (singles, detached, row, multi-unit) and type of ownership (non-profit, public, private rental or ownership). To determine the initiative’s outcomes, you must provide a final report of the project’s deployment, operations, outputs and knowledge transfer activities. Pertinent information must be collected on the demonstrated innovation during implementation. This will include costs, benefits, impacts, increased demonstration audience awareness and knowledge through on-site performance monitoring, occupant surveys, exit surveys of demonstration audiences.

Note: Eligible applicants must indicate any relevant project funding that they have applied to, been approved for, or have received. Also, please indicate partner or co-applicant funding and include funding from other strategy initiatives (for example:National Housing Co-investment Fund – Housing Construction Stream, National Housing Co-investment Fund – Renewal and Repair Stream, Rental Construction Financing Initiative).

Demonstrations funding is available to those who wish to address housing related issues identified under the strategy’s priority areas and/or priority population groups.

Eligible applicants include:

Canadian citizens
Canadian companies, organizations, associations, private and non-profit builders and developers of affordable housing projects
design, construction and renovation professionals
non-profit affordable housing organizations and cooperatives
First Nations, Métis and Inuit organizations, housing organizations agencies and authorities,
Non-governmental organization (NGOs) seeking to demonstrate and showcase new and innovative approaches to the efficient and effective provision or delivery of affordable housing projects such as Habitat for Humanity, Tower Renewal Partnership, CaGBC or FCM
Governmental and non-governmental organization (NGOs) seeking to demonstrate and showcase new and innovative approaches for the effective and efficient provision and/or delivery of programs and services supporting and improving the quality of life of vulnerable populations living in affordable housing.

Note: International organizations and individuals may be members of the demonstration team but not the primary lead applicant (i.e. they must partner with a Canadian lead that acts as the ’Applicant’).