Full article: Can They Build or Not? Nonprofit Housing Development in an Era of Government Re-engagement | Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research (anserj.ca)
Aijia Deng & Catherine Leviten-Reid, Cape Breton University; Luc Thériault, University of New Brunswick
A study of the experiences of non-profit organizations in building affordable rental housing in Canada has revealed a broken system badly in need of reform.
“As it currently stands, affordable housing development in Canada is a prominent example of dysfunctional federalism,” concludes an article on the study in the current issue of the Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research.
Participating in the study were 15 third sector housing practitioners from 13 organizations distributed across three regions: Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia; Ottawa, Ontario; and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
“Many challenges were reported, including ones pertaining to administration (extensive proposal requirements, lack of information and communication, and lengthy review processes), and the design of funding programs (such as a lack of flexibility available to proponents),” the article states.
“Participants also reported limitations to the amount and nature of support provided, challenges working across different levels of government, and an uneven playing field among nonprofit and for-profit housing developers. Overall, results show that despite significant and recent investments made available for affordable housing, the nonprofit sector faces many barriers in accessing these, and that significant changes are required so that housing organizations may provide rental units to those in greatest need.”
The article describes the frustration faced by non-profit participants in getting the support of multiple levels of government because every level wanted to see another level come on board before they joined the project. Then approval from one level may expire before the other level finishes its review process.
“Because they won’t come on board until somebody else is on board and they all say the same thing … It’s impossible to get them on board at the same time,” noted one participant.
Summary of Can they Build or Not? Nonprofit Housing Development in an Era of Government Re-Engagement
