Tsartlip Capital Projects Seeks Funding to Alleviate Housing Shortage
The team at Tsartlip Capital Projects seeks funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to build modular housing units on Tsartlip reserve.
This spring may herald good news for Tsartlip community members impacted by the housing crisis.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (“CMHC”), which works “to make housing affordable for everyone in Canada,” created the Rapid Housing Initiative to support the development of affordable housing through capital grants.
Through this initiative, CMHC will grant $1 billion in funding to “provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous governing bodies and organizations and non-profit organizations” seeking to develop affordable housing for community members in need. Those interested in funding must participate in a competitive application process.
Tsartlip Director of Capital Projects Brad Janvier hopes to take advantage of this opportunity to build affordable housing on the Tsartlip reserve. He and his team have already begun the application process to acquire funding to build modular housing units for the Tsartlip community. This is the first time Tsartlip has applied for this type of funding.
CMHC plans to prioritize applications on behalf of First Nations people so Tsartlip Director of Capital Projects Brad Janvier and his team are doing everything in their power to ensure the application submitted on behalf of Tsartlip is exceptional.
For example, Janvier and his team are working to complete a housing needs assessment. Janvier explains this document is being created in partnership with MNP, and will ultimately “quantify exactly how many homes Tsartlip needs.”
Additionally, Janvier is working to develop a housing policy document. Currently, there is no formal policy to govern the relationship with the tenants of the 65 existing units. The new housing policy document will set forth clear guidelines for new and existing tenants and help meet the application criteria for the funding.
The housing policy document is already well underway. According to Janvier, the team “will be sending the Housing Committee a draft of the housing policy soon” for feedback.
Including the housing needs assessment and housing policy documents in the CMHC application will help convey both the gravity of Tsartlip’s need for housing and the capacity of Tsartlip to implement the proposed modular housing project successfully.
Janvier is also making the application scalable to ensure it can be adapted to build more or less than twelve units, depending on CMHC’s preferences and feedback.
If Tsartlip’s application is successful and Tsartlip is awarded funds to build modular housing units, it will be a significant step towards addressing the ongoing housing shortage on Tsartlip reserve.
The application window for the current phase of the Rapid Housing Initiative – Phase 3 – is open through March 15th, 2023, and Janvier expects to receive a decision on Tsartlip’s application in June 2023.
In the meantime, Janvier and the team are hard at work. In Janvier’s own words, “we’ve got our heads down and we’re sharpening our pencils working on it.”
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