Addressing the Need
Additional funding partners: CMHC, Province of Ontario, The City of Toronto and a number of Ontario Service Managers
In 2015, Housing Partnership Canada (HPC) and various partners undertook a detailed feasibility study to evaluate the need for a dedicated lending institution for affordable housing providers across Canada.
Findings
The feasibility study was undertaken by the investment bank, Morrison Park Advisors (MPA) and funded by 17 federal, provincial, local and sector organizations. The study found that creating much needed new affordable housing and replacing aging, existing social housing stock in Canada will require a significant amount of capital. The total requirement for the next 10 years ranges from $77 billion to $121 billion. Demand for housing capital is significant, growing, and outstrips government funding capacity by a significant margin of billions each year.
To address this large and growing capital funding gap, the study recommended the creation of the HPC Housing Investment Corporation (HI-C).
bridging the gap
While there is large unmet demand from debt investors in Canada for creditworthy infrastructure investments, most do not have the experience or expertise to understand the needs of social and affordable housing providers. At the same time, most housing providers do not have the experience or expertise to access the capital markets on their own. As a sector-based financing vehicle, HI-C provides expertise in housing development and regeneration, finance, and underwriting required to bridge the gap between housing providers and debt investors.
SECTOR SUSTAINABILITY
Beyond bridging this gap to provide the required access to capital, our goal is to help housing providers to become more financially self-sufficient as they work to address affordable housing demands in their communities.
The HPC Housing Investment Corporation has been generously supported by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Affordable Housing Innovation Fund.
About CMHC
As Canada's authority on housing, 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. For more information, please visit cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.
To find out more about the National Housing Strategy, visit www.placetocallhome.ca.