The Affordable Housing Innovation Fund supports new ideas that will drive change and disrupt the industry — approaches that will evolve the affordable housing sector and create the next generation of housing in Canada. The fund encourages development of novel financing models and unique building designs that overcome barriers and lower costs and risks associated with affordable housing projects.

Current Priority: Applications delivering housing units on expedited basis using modular and prefabricated construction techniques that are scalable and replicable to address homelessness. Special consideration for:

• Communities that submitted Community Encampment Response Plans through the Unsheltered Homelessness and Encampment Initiative
• Previous Innovation Fund applicants with demonstrated experience developing solutions to address homelessness

Innovation Categories

Projects are assessed across two main innovation types:

• Building Innovation: Novel designs, construction techniques, materials, or technologies (e.g., modular housing, passive house, net-zero buildings, northern climate adaptations)
• Financing Innovation: New financing models, partnership structures, or capital approaches (e.g., portfolio approaches, syndicated lending, revolving funds, risk-mitigation models)

Innovation levels range from incremental (improving existing approaches) to breakthrough (fundamentally new) to transformational (industry-changing).

Eligible Projects

Projects must demonstrate innovation in building techniques or financing models that:

• Overcome barriers to affordable housing development
• Lower costs and risks
• Are scalable and replicable
• Test new approaches not yet proven in Canadian affordable housing sector

Minimum Requirements

• Affordability: Based on municipal, provincial, or CMHC criteria; maintain affordability for minimum 10 years
• Innovation: Novel financing models or unique designs
• Financial sustainability: Demonstrate available financial resources; highlight how innovation will reduce or eliminate reliance on government subsidies
• Knowledge transfer: Provide a plan for capturing and sharing information, lessons learned and insights