New Housing Projects Aimed at Tackling Affordability Crisis in Canada

The National Housing Strategy is moving forward with new initiatives to address Canada’s affordable housing crisis. The Solutions Labs Program and Demonstrations Initiative have announced a group of innovative new projects designed to make housing more affordable. These 2 programs are focused on helping the community housing sector find better ways to create and preserve affordable housing units.

Finding new ways to solve complex housing problems 

National Housing Strategy Solutions Labs focuses on developing creative solutions to Canada’s housing issues. The program supports organizations by providing funding and expert help to tackle tough challenges. For example, new labs focus on: 

• combining efforts across non-profits 
• forming partnerships between private and non-profit sectors, and 
• exploring smarter ways to use land or financing

The National Housing Strategy Demonstrations Initiative funds solutions that support housing affordability in real environments. The initiative aims to increase the adoption of high-quality solutions for greater sector impact. It also supports active scaling/replication with solutions adopters.   

New projects launched 

Twelve new Solutions Labs and 10 Demonstrations Initiative projects have been announced in 2025. These efforts are designed to help community housing providers. Unlike private developers, community housing providers often face extra hurdles when trying to build and preserve affordable housing, like limited funding or land access. 

Some common ideas across the new project portfolio include: 

• innovative partnerships between private and non-profit organizations  
• innovative capital and financing solutions  
• combining resources and efforts across non-profit organizations for greater impact 
• expanding community land trusts financing tools and partnership models 
• leveraging underutilized land 
• exploring community investments 
• demonstrating innovative building techniques  

Success stories from the past 

Past projects have driven tangible change. For instance, the Case for Conversions Lab looked at how office spaces could be turned into affordable housing. Thanks to this effort, tools and strategies for office-to-home conversions are now being shared more widely. 

Another groundbreaking effort was the Financialization and Housing Lab, which helped design a new kind of affordable housing Real Estate Investment Trust or REIT. This approach is blending public and private funding to create more affordable housing. Manitoba recently launched a $10-million REIT for affordable housing projects. 

Another impactful example is the Hamilton Transit-Oriented Affordable Housing Lab. It addressed the lack of alignment between transit development and housing affordability. This helped establish the Canadian Housing Affordability Partnership (CHAP), which is working to ensure transit investments also support affordable housing. With an initial investment of $750,000 from the National Housing Strategy’s Affordable Housing Innovation Fund for the necessary pre-development work, CHAP is working toward a multi-million-dollar pilot fund in Hamilton. This project aims to create over 120 affordable units and leverage additional private and philanthropic capital for a self-sustaining fund.  

The Demonstrations Initiative has also focused on scaling innovative solutions. One key area is boosting the concept of community land trusts, which ensure housing remains affordable in a neighbourhood for years. Seventeen community land trust projects were funded and shared their lessons learned and best practices to scale land assembly solutions in Canada and professionalize this ecosystem. The Northern Community Land Trust in Yukon has secured $2.4 million from the Affordable Housing Innovation Fund to build affordable units, and other communities are following suit.  

The Demonstrations Initiative also supported housing solutions for targeted National Housing Strategy population groups:  

• culturally relevant models for urban Indigenous peoples groups with Kijate
• people with developmental disabilities with Inclusion Canada
• people facing mobility challenges through the Accelerating Accessibility Coalition and Experiment 303  

What’s next? 

“These two cohorts of new projects are not just tackling complex housing challenges — they are developing real, scalable solutions that will empower community housing providers,” said Erik Blache, Senior Manager, Innovation Programs. “By working collaboratively to refine, share and replicate these innovations, we are building a stronger, more sustainable future for affordable housing.” 

Lessons learned and key knowledge from funded projects are available through the Housing Knowledge Centre.