From May 8-10, 2024, Habitat for Humanity Canada held its National Conference and Annual General Meeting in Windsor, Ontario, which included celebrating the achievements of local Habitats during its National Award Celebration Gala and Dinner. Twelve local Habitats were recognized for their 2023 efforts and accomplishments. Congratulations to all the winners! Read more to find out who won.

The Terry Petkau Legacy Awards honour the legacy of Terry Petkau, a man known as the heart of Habitat. Terry was an effective, generous, and inclusive leader who inspired and mentored others, and whose contributions continue to expand safe and affordable housing in Canada and around the world. These awards are highest honour bestowed upon members of Habitat for Humanity in Canada.

The winner of this year’s Terry Petkau Legacy Award – Outstanding Volunteer is Dave Hurley, co-founder and board chair, Habitat for Humanity Northwest Territories.

Since Habitat Northwest Territories’ inception in 2012, Dave’s passion and commitment has led the organization through transformational change. His ongoing collaboration with all levels of government, First Nations groups, and potential partners and funders has leveraged available resources to help this Habitat succeed while expanding its reach. Through Dave’s visionary leadership, Habitat Northwest Territories transitioned from traditional builds to modular, prefabricated homes, enabling it to build faster, more sustainably and more affordably, all while increasing its annual number of home builds to better serve families in the North.

The winner of this year’s Terry Petkau Legacy Award – Outstanding Staff is Gerrad Oishi, CEO, Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta.

Gerrad joined Habitat Southern Alberta in 2015 and since then, his passion, perseverance, expertise and thoughtful leadership have led to more stable housing options for families. The organization developed a financing model to access land trust property in the City of Calgary for higher-density affordable housing. In 2022, Habitat Southern Alberta completed the largest build in its history, a 32-unit stacked townhome project. Last year, Habitat Southern Alberta generated $6.3 million in sales through its three Habitat ReStore locations and online store, all to build more affordable housing in Calgary and nearby communities.

The Environment & Sustainability Award recognizes a local Habitat with a building program that demonstrates environmental responsibility and sustainability by reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Habitat for Humanity Southeast BC achieved its province’s highest energy efficiency rating of Step Code 5 on its four-unit townhome build in Castlegar, British Columbia. The build included acoustical sound insulation and concrete floor topping to support lower levels of noise transmission – a difficult area in which to achieve sustainability, along with xeriscape landscaping to promote low water usage.

The Expanded Impact Award recognizes a local Habitat that has significantly increased its impact over the past year.

In 2023, Habitat for Humanity Grey Bruce partnered with 12 families – a 200% increase in families served; assisted 34 families through its ReStore Community Services program; and supported 77 Saugeen Ojibway Nation members with critical renovations to ensure safe and habitable homes. Habitat Grey Bruce also hosted 47 youth participants through 61 hands-on skill-building training events at its First Nations build sites – engaging participants in active Reconciliation with First Nations.

The Innovation Award recognizes the innovative ways two local Habitats are having more impact, including leveraging their financial and other assets, designing or constructing more efficiently/effectively, or serving families differently.

In 2023, Habitat for Humanity Nova Scotia's ReStore continued to implement innovative strategies to help make it a leading local social enterprise retailer in its province. This included partnering with non-profit organizations to provide meaningful employment opportunities; redistributing surplus donations to enhance community impact and reduce waste; forging strategic partnerships with local recycling and junk removal companies to redirect usable items from landfills to the ReStore; partnering with local realtors to promote its kitchen removal program; and leveraging digital platforms to further expand the ReStore’s reach and impact. Since 2021, Habitat Nova Scotia’s ReStore has increased its annual revenue by 84% to more than $1.4 million in 2023, directly translating to more proceeds to support its affordable homeownership program.

Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region has been successfully working with the City of Peterborough to reduce its parking requirements to 0.5 parking spaces per housing unit for future higher-density developments – maximizing its ability to build more homes. To offset this reduction in parking spots, in 2023 this Habitat forged a partnership with students at Trent University to develop an app for the organization’s new car-share program. The program will provide future Habitat homeowners with access to an on-site, Habitat-owned vehicle that can be rented by the hour or day for a reasonable fee, reducing the homeowners’ overall environmental footprint in local communities.

The Family Partnership Award recognizes local Habitats that have achieved better family engagement and better outcomes for families over the term of their partnerships by improving family communications, processes, homeowner education and training opportunities. Habitat homeowners are our most important partners and ambassadors.

Habitat for Humanity Red Deer has robust processes in place to support homeowner success. This includes opportunities for personal growth, homeownership education, and financial literacy through workshops such as Good Neighbours conflict resolution, Maintenance and Warranties, and its Money Mentors financial courses. Habitat Red Deer maintains steady contact with homeowners, including check-ins to ensure families are doing well. This includes natural relationship touchpoints such as newsletters, invitations to special events, and regularly bringing families into the Habitat ReStore through homeowner discounts.

Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta continually refines its processes to establish and maintain successful relationships with families who have become true ambassadors for the Habitat brand. This includes improving future homeowner volunteer experiences; homeowner training on condos and board governance; follow-ups on household warranties before expiry; quarterly homeowner newsletters on home maintenance; homeowner surveys conducted during the first, fifth and tenth years of occupancy; and families in mortgages receiving ongoing support during touchpoints three times a year.

The Community Outreach Award recognizes a local Habitat that has generated tangible results by better engaging community partners and building strong community relationships.

Habitat for Humanity Okanagan engaged new donors and supporters through 50/50 lotteries, raising more than $173,000 in lottery revenue in 2023. Habitat Okanagan’s lottery revenue goes towards programming such as volunteer recruitment, volunteer retention, and Habitat ReStore safety, helping the organization to sustain itself while raising money to continue to build safe and affordable homes.

The One Habitat Award is the integration of all we do – communications, operations, governance – with the goal of serving more families in our country and around the world. The winners of the One Habitat award lives and breathes this spirit by embodying the idea of ‘one world, one Habitat’.

Habitats for Humanity Hamilton, Huronia, New Brunswick, Okanagan and Prince Edward-Hastings for demonstrating their commitment to Habitat’s vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to call home. Last year these Habitats assumed responsibilities for other local Habitats due to mergers or to provide interim support during leadership transitions.

Congratulations to all our local Habitats for these well-deserved wins!