CMHC launches 2026 Housing Research Awards

Ottawa, July 14, 2026

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) today launched a new round of the annual Housing Research Awards competition. This year's theme for the President's Medal for Outstanding Housing Research is: Modernizing Canada's Housing Industry.

Advancing the modernization of housing will help increase productivity, reduce costs and timelines, and scale housing delivery. This includes the application of manufacturing-based production systems to residential construction characterized by off-site fabrication, standardized and repeatable designs, integration of digital and automated technologies, and coordinated supply chains. Advancing the modernization of housing will help increase productivity, reduce costs and timelines, and scale housing delivery.

The Housing Research Awards recognize Canadian housing research, research training, knowledge mobilization and outreach activities that are impactful and innovative. This initiative helps to build and sustain Canada’s culture of research-based housing knowledge across key fields, including the social sciences, humanities, health sciences, building sciences and beyond. The awards recognize outstanding housing research and provide monetary awards to help project teams conduct further research, knowledge mobilization, and outreach activities. CMHC administers this program on behalf of the Government of Canada, as part of the National Housing Strategy (NHS).

Three awards are provided annually:

CMHC President’s Medal for Outstanding Housing Research: Modernizing Canada's Housing Industry — $25,000
Gold Roof Award for Housing Research Excellence — $12,500
Gold Roof Award for Knowledge to Action — $12,500

A panel of experts which may include representatives from academia, as well as the private, public and non-profit sectors, will review the applications. Award recipients are selected using a rigorous set of criteria to identify projects with the greatest potential to produce the data and insights needed by decision-makers to improve housing affordability and better address the needs of Canadians.

Quote:

“Through the 2026 Housing Research Awards, CMHC is supporting impactful research that will help modernize Canada’s housing industry, thereby quickening the pace to create more homes. These awards are one way that CMHC facilitates the development of new ideas in housing and innovation in the construction industry to support the Government’s commitment to accelerating housing supply.”
— Coleen Volk, CMHC President and CEO

The Housing Research Awards application portal opens today. More information about the types of projects that may be submitted is available online. Applicants have until 4pm EST, September 29, 2026, to submit their proposals. Winners will be selected later this year.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is a federal Crown corporation and the foundation of Canada’s housing system. For more than 80 years, CMHC has supported the functioning of housing markets across the country through housing finance solutions — including mortgage loan insurance and securitization — while providing trusted, unbiased data, research and market intelligence to inform policy and decision making. Through its national presence, deep expertise in housing economics and finance, and a system-wide perspective, CMHC helps foster a more stable, well-functioning housing market that supports households, communities and the broader economy.