Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI)

The Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI) provides funding to support the rapid development of permanent, new affordable housing units. It is delivered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) under the National Housing Strategy (NHS). 

The new affordable housing units must be either new construction, conversion of non-residential buildings into affordable housing, or repair of existing residential buildings that are no longer in the housing stock. They are meant for vulnerable populations prioritized by CMHC under the NHS.

Through three rounds of RHI, $4 billion in federal funds has been allocated for the development of over 15,000 new affordable homes across Canada. Projects within Calgary have secured RHI funds through each round and will result in a significant number of new affordable homes for Calgarians. 

Contact RHI

If you have questions about RHI, please submit all inquiries via email.

Round 1

  • Boreal Place at Forest Lawn

    HomeSpace Society

    The Forest Lawn project was a rehabilitation of an abandoned building with 25 units and open to youth and Calgarians experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The total amount of funding from the RHI is $800,000. The funding is from the Cities stream of the RHI. The project commenced in August 2021 and was completed in December 2021.


Round 2

In April of 2021, the federal budget identified an additional $1.5B investment for a second round of RHI. Eligible applicants from round one were offered the opportunity to submit for funding for the second round.

Administration explored options to better support and position Calgary projects for the second round of RHI, including providing City capital support for projects, continued administration of the City’s Housing Incentive Program and fast-tracking municipal approvals for affordable housing projects.

Council approved the use of $5.5M from COFLEX and up to $9M in municipal capital funding to support proposals to leverage dollars under the second round of RHI. As a result of these efforts, CMHC identified over $30.7M of additional RHI funding for Calgary projects, including one additional project to receive funding through the Cities Stream and two projects to receive funding under the Projects Stream.

  • YW Taylor Family Home

    YWCA Calgary

    The YW Taylor Family Home is a traditional build project with 21 units catered to vulnerable women and children fleeing domestic violence. The project received approximately $7.1 million from the Projects stream and $2.4 million from The City. The project commenced construction January 2022 and was completed in March 2023.


Round 3

Calgary was one of 41 municipalities selected to receive RHI 3 funding. The City was allocated funding through the Cities Stream, The City also supported organizations with their Projects Stream applications. The total funding for RHI 3 is approximately $15.7 million from CMHC with additional funding from The City totalling approximately $2 million.

CMHC’s application window for the Cities and Project streams was open from December 12, 2022, until March 15, 2023. With the funding, The City has selected two recipients to help deliver new affordable housing units; Onward (previously Horizon Housing Society) and HomeSpace Society.

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