Federal government launches $1.5-billion program to preserve affordable rental housing - Toronto Star

The fund is meant to help keep affordable homes from being lost to redevelopment or conversions on the private market.

Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson rises during Question Period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

The federal government has opened applications for a $1.5-billion program that helps community housing providers acquire and preserve “at-risk” affordable rental properties.

The Canada Rental Protection Fund, established in 2024, is one of the first initiatives under Build Canada Homes, the federal Crown corporation tasked with increasing the supply of affordable housing across Canada. The fund is meant to protect affordable homes from being bought by private owners that may seek higher rents, or lost to redevelopment or conversions. 

In a statement to the Star, Kensington Market Community Land Trust co-chair Alix Aylen applauded the launch as “exciting news that addresses one of the greatest threats to tenants” across Canada.

“Community Land Trusts such as KMCLT have been advocating for a program like this for years, because the most direct, cost-effective and sustainable approach to affordable housing is through the protection of the affordable units that already exist,” she said.

Programs like these, such as the City of Toronto’s own program to acquire affordable housing, have proven they have the “power to stop” tenants being displaced, she added.

The program will be operated by the Canadian Housing Acquisition Fund (CHAF), a group that includes the Canadian Housing Renewal Association, The National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc., Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada, and the BC Rental Protection Fund.

The roughly $1.5 billion in funds include $470 million in nonrepayable contributions and $1 billion in low-interest loans.

In addition to helping community housing providers buy and renew affordable housing stock, CHAF will also seek more funding from charities, private investors and government. Repaid loans, meanwhile, will be reinvested into future affordable housing acquisitions.

According to Build Canada Homes, the program could save 7,000 at-risk homes in the first five years, depending on market conditions and acquisition opportunities, and thousands more as capital is reinvested.

Housing policy expert and Ottawa Community Land Trust board member Steve Pomeroy said his research has found Canada lost over one million homes that rented for $1,000 or less per month between 2011 and 2020.

Preserving existing affordable housing, rather than just building new, achieves two things, he said: it is more “cost-effective” than building new, and it provides non-profits with the necessary funds to remove housing from “the speculative private market.”

“If that building is put on the private market and another investor comes along to buy it, they are going to want to increase the rents to the greatest extent they can in order to increase the profitability of the assets,” Pomeroy said.

The “worst case scenario,” could see mass evictions in order to increase rents, but even “more reasonable” landlords would reset rents to market prices when tenants move out, he added.

Pomeroy said it’s a struggle for land trusts and non-profit groups to remove housing from the private market.

In order to buy four buildings over the last couple of years, the Ottawa Community Land Trust has had to raise $5 million in community bonds, get loans from credit unions, and more. 

“It’s been a real uphill battle to make that work,” Pomeroy said. “And what this fund does is it gives us access to a funding source that makes it much easier for us to go out there and buy a 30-unit building for what a private investor is trying to sell.”

Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Gregor Robertson said in a release Tuesday that the government is taking “decisive action” to protect affordable rentals because “every Canadian deserves a place to call home.”

Ana Bailão, CEO of Build Canada Homes, said the Canada Rental Protection Fund reflects the government’s commitment to “safeguarding affordable housing while ensuring strong stewardship of public funds.

“By investing in a sector-led model, we are supporting an independent organization with the expertise and capacity needed to act quickly in competitive markets. We are confident the Canadian Housing Acquisition Fund will generate meaningful and lasting results for Canadians by protecting the homes they rely on,” she said.

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Manuela Vega is a Toronto-based business reporter for the Star. Follow her on X: @_manuelavega.