Canada Support Social Innovation Canada Solutions Lab

Hamilton, Ontario, April 28, 2023

Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion and the Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario and Member of Parliament for Hamilton West – Ancaster – Dundas, announced that Social Innovation Canada would be receiving an investment of $400,000 from the National Housing Strategy’s Solutions Lab program. The Hamilton Transit Oriented Affordable Housing (TOAH) Lab will be focused on identifying and co-developing financing solutions to preserve existing and create new affordable housing near transit corridors in the City of Hamilton, and to inform the development of similar projects in other municipalities across Canada.

Transit oriented development offers a city the opportunity to increase the well-being of communities through the creation and retention of much needed affordable housing units.

The Lab will work on solutions for up to three projects to identify innovative and sustainable funding pathways to bring about the projects’ realization, and that can be scaled and applied to others. The three projects will be selected from potential sites along current A-Line or B-Line transit that are currently held by local non-profit affordable housing providers and other sites and providers as identified. Building on Hamilton Council’s recent endorsement of their Housing Sustainability and Investment Roadmap, the Lab will work with organizations such as the City of Hamilton, Hamilton is Home, City Housing Hamilton, Hamilton Community Foundation, the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative, and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, to enhance the stock of affordable housing in Hamilton.

Solutions Labs aim to address complex societal challenges that require systems change, and which have not been solved using conventional methods. They provide a space for people with diverse perspectives to come together to question assumptions and to experiment with housing solutions. Labs fuel bottom-up collaborative innovation in search of new ways to solve complex housing problems.

Quotes:

“Everyone deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. We’ve heard loud and clear from Canadians that more support is needed for housing. That’s why we are investing in the Hamilton Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Solutions Lab to deepen our understanding of Hamilton’s housing environment and the potential unintended consequences on housing affordability. This is another way our government’s National Housing Strategy continues to ensure no one is left behind.”
— The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion

“This investment is geared towards finding solutions to help Canadians access safe and affordable housing that meet their needs. Our government remains committed to working with our partners to develop and implement solutions to housing in both Ontario and across Canada.”
— The Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario and Member of Parliament for Hamilton West – Ancaster – Dundas

“For Hamilton families, transit-oriented development could mean a more convenient, affordable, greener life. Partnering with the Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Solutions Lab will help tackle a major priority in the City’s Housing Sustainability and Investment Roadmap. Solving the housing crisis is a key priority for City Council and for me — because I believe everyone should be able to find a good, safe, decent home they can afford.”
— Mayor Andrea Horwath, City of Hamilton

“Addressing Canada’s housing affordability crisis is going to require this type of multi-sector collaboration working on innovative solutions that serve those most vulnerable. Having worked deeply on the issue of financialization, applying a systems lens to what is a complex issue, the Lab will contribute to ensuring that the emerging transit-oriented communities are inclusive and that the benefit of the development can be shared. I am excited by this lab’s potential to create sustainable solutions that can be replicated across the country.”
— Andrea Nemtin, CEO Social Innovation Canada

Quick facts:

Social Innovation Canada works to provide the collaborative infrastructure to strengthen Canada’s social innovation ecosystem, empowering people, organizations and systems with the tools, knowledge, skills and connections that they need to solve real and complex problems.
Social Innovation Canada will serve as a powerful tipping point for the social innovation ecosystem that can lead to widespread social and environmental change.
The National Housing Strategy (NHS) is a 10‑year, $82+ billion plan that will give more Canadians a place to call home.
The NHS Solution Labs program, administered through CMHC, provides housing stakeholders with funding and expert innovation Lab consultants to help solve complex housing problems using innovative methods and tools.
NHS Solutions Labs apply a social innovation Lab approach to developing world-leading solutions to housing problems that will contribute to the National Housing Strategy’s key priority areas.
As evidence emerges of what solutions are working, Lab teams will put together implementation roadmaps for successful innovative solutions developed through the Lab process.

Additional information:

As Canada's authority on housing, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. CMHC’s aim is that by 2030, everyone in Canada has a home they can afford, and that meets their needs. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

To find out more about the National Housing Strategy, visit www.placetocallhome.ca.

Check out the National Housing Strategy Housing Funding Initiatives Map to see the affordable housing projects that have been developed across Canada.