Truly affordable housing is climate-ready
Sponsored by ICLEI Canada
The need for affordable housing is a concern for communities across Canada. According to Statistics Canada, nearly half of all Canadians are “very concerned” about housing affordability, and reports show that Canada must build 5.8 million more homes by 2030 to meet housing affordability needs.
If millions of new homes are not built with resilience and energy efficiency in mind, long-term costs such as high energy costs, insurance premiums, and the need for retrofits or full rebuilds will outweigh the benefits.
As the Canadian Climate Institute puts it in their “Close to Home” report, “the most affordable home is the one you don’t have to rebuild.”
Stronger Together
Climate and housing are often framed as separate, or even competing, priorities. However, we can only achieve long-lasting benefits in our communities when they are addressed together.
Homes that come with high utility costs or are particularly vulnerable to climate hazards are, by definition, not affordable. On the flip side, when climate and housing are considered in tandem, developments can significantly:
- strengthen community resilience
- protect residents
- support climate goals
It is not enough to increase the number of homes in Canada; we also need to make sure we build these homes right.
“Housing policy, climate, and economic policies all go hand in hand,” said Don Iveson, co-chair of the Task Force for Housing and Climate, and former mayor of Edmonton. “If we’re going to build fast and make big investments, we need to build smart. That means homes that last, cost less to live in, keep people safe during extreme events, and contribute to a better future.”
Building Climate-Ready Housing
Resources are available to help communities address immediate housing needs, while making smart, long-term investment decisions. Climate Insight is a free online platform that consolidates critical data and information in one place, including:
- resources to build hazard-ready housing
- interactive maps to avoid building in areas at high risk of worsening climate impacts
- codes and standards to help guide climate-ready development
“For our small team, Climate Insight has been invaluable” said Rohan Mishra, environment and sustainability lead, Town of New Glasgow. “We need to move fast to make sure climate priorities are included in housing policies and projects. The fact that Climate Insight pulls together vetted national data and practical solutions in one place makes it a lot easier for us to find what we need to do that.”
Meeting the Needs of Canadian Communities
The platform’s library, map, and solutions finder tool have become trusted sources for thousands of users. More than 700 resources are available, and that number keeps increasing.
As housing pressures intensify, more housing features and resources will continue to be added to the platform to help communities address the dual housing and climate crises.
Visit www.climateinsight.ca to find the resources you need to build housing today for a changing tomorrow.
Climate Insight is part of the Climate Toolkit for Housing and Infrastructure. It is funded in part by the Government of Canada and delivered by ICLEI Canada with support from Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities Canada.
✯ Municipal World Executive and Essentials Plus Members: You might also be interested in Sébastien Labrecque’s article: Utilizing real estate conversion to boost housing supply.
Ewa Jackson is a recognized national leader in local climate adaptation and resilience, and the managing director at ICLEI Canada.
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