CMHC Recognizes the 2020 Housing Research Award Winners

The 2020 Housing Research Awards were celebrated virtually this year. The recipient projects may be just some of the tools you are looking for to augment affordable housing in your part of the country.

Here are 2020’s award recipients. Their research is innovative and inspiring. See how they are having a positive impact on affordable housing.

2020 CMHC President’s Medal for Outstanding Housing Research:

The Impact of Short-term Rentals on Canadian Housing
Professor David Wachsmuth, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec

The Impact of Short-term Rentals on Canadian Housing: Using data collection and analysis to investigate the effects of short-term rentals in Canada. Some insights you can get from this work:

1. Short-term rentals have been a major cause of housing financialization in Canada, providing revenue outside of traditional rentals.
2. The majority of short-term rentals are owned by large-scale commercial operators, and not by private individuals.
3. The financial incentives of short-term rentals place pressure on housing, leading to long-term rentals being converted into short-term ones.

2020 CMHC Gold Roof Award for Housing Research Excellence:

Step-by-Step Guide to Developing Affordable Housing
The Alberta Rural Development Network (ARDN), Edmonton, Alberta

Step-by-Step Guide to Developing Affordable Housing: A clear and easy-to-follow guide to increase the affordable housing stock in your community.

1. The guide outlines a standard process for creating and planning affordable housing that non-experts can use.
2. It demystifies industry jargon and practices so that organizations can do more of the planning themselves.
3. It helps users create and plan housing that is both environmentally and financially sustainable.

2020 CMHC Gold Roof Award for Knowledge to Action:

Step-by-Step Guide to Estimating Rural Homelessness
The Alberta Rural Development Network (ARDN), Edmonton, Alberta

Step-by-Step Guide to Estimating Rural Homelessness: Collecting data on homelessness and housing insecurity in rural and remote Canadian communities. This guide can be used in other rural and northern communities.

1. The guide was used in 2018 to perform the largest ever collaborative count of homelessness in rural Canada.
2. Data generated by the guide inspired a $50 million commitment by Cenovus Energy for housing in 6 Indigenous communities.
3. Nearly 3,000 people who lack secure housing have been identified across 20 small rural communities.

2020 CMHC Gold Roof Award for Knowledge to Action:

Community Benefits of Supportive Housing
BC Housing, British Columbia

Community Benefits of Supportive Housing is a tool to address community questions about supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness. You can use this collateral to support community buy in.

1. Infographics and summaries can make high-quality, complex research accessible to many readers, including those outside of the housing industry.
2. High-quality research on local issues helps to create a compelling and relevant resource.
3. The visuals and key messages in the tool are excellent handouts at events and are well suited for social media.

The CMHC Housing Research Awards support research teams and recognize activities that are impactful and innovative in Canadian housing. The awards are designed to build on and sustain Canada’s research-based knowledge culture across all fields related to housing.

If you are inspired by the housing research recognized here and would like to learn more, visit the Housing Research Awards.

• Find details on how to apply to share your story
• Read about previous past recipients and their research
• Sign up to our newsletter to be information about other housing research

Related links

• Housing Data and Research
• Housing Solutions Labs
• Demonstration Initiative