The availability of affordable rental housing across Canada is becoming increasingly more scarce for people with lower incomes as immigration rebounds and inflation rises.[1] Yet the pace of home construction relative to population – already the lowest in the G7 – continues to decline amid supply chain, tight labour and cost escalation challenges.[2] Deteriorating mortgage affordability is making the move from rental to home ownership even more challenging for low-income households, driving added demand in an undersupplied market.
Numerous federal, provincial, and municipal funding programs – often in partnership with local non-profit housing associations – are responding to the intense demand for affordable rental housing. As supply chain issues and cost escalation continue to beset the industry, BTY is helping affordable housing projects launch and achieve project success with multiple services.
Two of the largest funding programs are the CMHC’s Rental Financing Construction Initiative (RFCI) and the MLI Select Program. The RFCI is encouraging the construction of more than 71,000 new rental housing units by providing low-cost funding to eligible borrowers during the product development phase for rental apartments. With an additional $12 billion in funding to be added over the next seven years the program now totals $25.75 billion in low-cost loans. While the MLI Select Program offers scaling flexibilities to encourage the preservation and creation of affordable, accessible and climate compatible units. Flexibilities include higher loan-to-value ratios, increased amortizations, lower debt coverage ratios, and reduced premiums.
BTY is supporting multiple types of affordable rental projects across the country with Project Monitoring & Lender Services, Cost Management, and Project Management services.
One of the recent projects we supported is the Windsor-Essex Community Housing Corporation’s new Affordable Passive House – the largest project of its kind in the province, in Windsor, ON. We are also working closely with YWCA in the Hamilton Niagara region on a variety of project sizes and housing types, including emergency, supportive, and rent-geared-to-income units.
In the Prairies we are active on numerous market and purpose-built rental developments, including affordable and social housing projects with non-profits such HomeSpace.
In British Columbia, BTY has numerous active affordable rental projects in Metro Vancouver and Kelowna. Most are in partnership with BC Housing and receive CMHC funding. Some have a mix of market and non-market units, and others offer social housing in larger complexes. As in Ontario, there are many more projects in the pipeline.
Whether you are a private developer navigating funding options or a community organization or institution interested in unlocking housing options in partnership with industry and the public sector, our integrated Cost Management, Project Management and Project Monitoring services can provide you the support and expertise you will need at every step of the project.
[1] https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/market-reports/rental-market-reports-major-centres
[2] https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/about/economics/economics-publications/post.other-publications.housing.housing-note.housing-note–may-12-2021-.html
