Many Habitat for Humanity affiliates in Canada have partnered with Aboriginal families over the last two decades, following their normal family selection processes and criteria. More recently, however, we have begun to think and dream that we could be doing much more to help ease the Aboriginal housing crisis in this country. We firmly believe that the Habitat homeownership model provides a viable approach to meeting this significant challenge. At the same time, numerous Aboriginal organizations and communities have been approaching us with the same thought in mind.

Thanks to the generous support of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), which is acting as the lead national sponsor, Habitat for Humanity Canada was able to launch its Aboriginal Housing Program on September 1, 2007. The objective of the program is to engage Habitat for Humanity affiliates across Canada in implementing pilot programs that will help make the Habitat homeownership model available to more Aboriginal people.

Under the agreement with CMHC, a senior-level CMHC employee has been seconded to HFHC for three years to help HFHC develop the pilot Aboriginal Housing Program with interested HFHC affiliates. CMHC will also provide technical support and seed funding for qualifying projects. The pilot program will be implemented both on- and off-reserve. In most cases, the housing projects will be carried out in partnership with Aboriginal communities and organizations.

While the pilot program will help address, in a small way, some of the housing problems that exist for Canada’s Aboriginal peoples, it will also generate unique new partnership models. These will be evaluated as they are developed, and shared with Aboriginal groups and other housing providers. The most successful approaches will hopefully serve as the foundation for an expanded Aboriginal Housing Program in the future, and provide models for other groups and communities to emulate.