Sustainable Investment
The Rental Protection Fund supports the long-term impact of affordable housing by investing in building renewal and sustainable retrofits. Through Renewal Grants, the Fund extends the lifespan of properties while making them more resilient without the need for ongoing operating subsidies.
Affordable rental under threat
Much of today’s naturally occurring affordable rental housing was built during the apartment construction boom of the 1960s and 1970s. Decades later, many of these properties are aging rapidly and suffering from the effects of disinvestment and years of deferred maintenance. Without major capital investment, insufficient cash flow can lead to inadequate maintenance of buildings, often causing these units to deteriorate beyond repair and disappear from the market entirely, making disinvestment a major driver of affordable housing loss.
Renewing and restoring existing housing
Many affordable rental buildings secured through the Fund require critical upgrades to enhance livability and longevity. These projects extend a building’s lifespan, improve safety, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and significantly boost energy efficiency—ensuring affordability for renters at a fraction of the cost of new construction.
Renewal Grants provide essential funding to stabilize rental housing in the critical months following acquisition by a community housing provider. This up-front investment enables long-overdue maintenance and urgent home repairs to be addressed quickly while laying the groundwork for long-term capital planning and preventative maintenance.
Grant amounts are allocated based on the cost of necessary capital projects, maintaining a dual focus on environmental and financial sustainability.
These grants help catalyze priority projects, ensuring buildings remain safe, livable, and resilient for current tenants. Key upgrades include:
- Building fascia repair
- Replacing single-pane windows with double-pane windows
- Balcony railing and floor replacements
- Mold & asbestos remediation
- Adding bike racks for tenants
total Renewal Grant funding provided to non-profits
value of capital projects delivered at properties acquired through the Fund
reductions in carbon emissions that can be achieved through deep-energy retrofits
Program layering to maximize impact
The Rental Protection Fund leverages additional funding from third-party programs to enable more extensive retrofits and repairs, resulting in significant improvements to building performance, reduced energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition to Renewal Grants, non-profits may choose to pursue CMHC deep energy retrofit funding through programs like the Canada Greener Affordable Housing program (CGAH) and the Canada Greener Affordable Housing Retrofit Funding program.
This funding, often amounting to millions of dollars per building, delivers unprecedented reductions in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, it enhances the building’s durability, livability, indoor air quality, climate resilience, and extends its useful economic life.
Sustainable Stewardship
Brightside Community Homes Foundation adopted a proactive approach to capital planning and executing vital repairs and improvements at Casa Mia. Guided by initial assessments and long-overlooked resident feedback, the Foundation has begun addressing deferred maintenance and critical capital projects, including building envelope repairs, enhanced security measures, and a hazardous materials survey to ensure safety and regulatory compliance.
Brightside is also exploring the possibility of a deep energy retrofit at Casa Mia, aiming to reduce energy consumption by up to 70%. This ambitious initiative aligns with Brightside’s strategic goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2035, reflecting their strong commitment to sustainability, affordability, and long-term resilience at Casa Mia.
“The Rental Protection Fund is also a rental resilience fund. Investments [...] not only breathe new life into a building and ensure operational sustainability into the future, but for the residents that call it home, freedom from housing insecurity that allows them new opportunities to thrive and build wealth.”