The best place to start is the Stage 1 Applicant Guide. The Guide is designed to explain the process, the terms and conditions, and how to submit a proposal using the Applicant Form.

The deadline for application is no later than April 13th, 2023, at 2pm EST. No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.

The Building for the Future Round has two stages. In Stage 1, applicants submit a proposal for their solution. Up to 30 Stage 1 applicants will be recommended for shortlisting and proceed to Stage 2. Shortlisted applicants moving to Stage 2 will receive up to $150,000 of Incubation funding to further develop their solution and prepare for replication and scaling.

The evaluation panel will select a suite of Stage 2 proposals to receive funding to implement their solutions. There is no pre-determined number of funded solutions; funding recipients will share a pool of $36.25M.

If you would like to discuss the relevance of your idea to the Getting Started Round, you can reach the Housing Supply Challenge Support Program, run by Evergreen, by email at HSC-DOLsupport4@evergreen.ca or call (647) 670-2265.

The Housing Supply Challenge Support Program is a program run by Evergreen - a national not-for-profit helping make cities flourish. Evergreen support includes dedicated staff to respond to questions, webinars relating to the Building for the Future round, and Networking Sessions. Please review the Applicant Guide for more information.

Participants can access the Housing Supply Challenge Support program online at: https://futurecitiescanada.ca/portal/our-focus/hsc-support-program/#round-4

Applicants can also email the Housing Supply Challenge Support Program at HSC-DOLsupport4@evergreen.ca or call (647) 670-2265.

The Housing Supply Challenge Support Program is not part of the evaluation panel, and as a result cannot confirm whether a project will be selected. The Support Program team is there to help applicants understand the evaluation criteria laid out in the Applicant Guide so that applicants can align their project to the Challenge as well as possible. Support Program team members can answer questions and provide access to resources, workshops, and networking forums that may help potential applicants further develop and strengthen their application.

The Housing Supply Challenge Support Program, run by Evergreen, will be hosting virtual events for interested participants to connect through the Support Program.

Participants can access the Housing Supply Challenge Support program event information online at: https://futurecitiescanada.ca/portal/our-focus/hsc-support-program/#round-4

Please contact the Support Program for details at HSC-DOLsupport4@evergreen.ca or call (647) 670-2265 for additional information. Applicant type

Each organization can only be the Applicant on one application with one solution per round. You may appear on other applications as a collaborator or partner.

No, for a solution, the Applicant must remain as the same organization throughout all the Building for the Future Stages.

The Applicant must be a legal entity duly incorporated and validly existing in Canada. If the entity is no longer incorporated, they would not be eligible.

The legal entity may be newly incorporated to apply for the Challenge. The evaluation panel will consider the experience and capacity of the project team, and whether they have the expertise to carry the solution through the Incubation stage and into Stage 3 (Implementation). You have the opportunity to elaborate on your team’s capacity in Section 3 of the application form. Ensure to highlight all team members, their expertise, and their role on the project team. If there are any key gaps, make sure you describe how these will be addressed in Stage 2.

Yes, so long as they are a legal entity duly incorporated and validly existing in Canada. If the entity is no longer incorporated, they would not be eligible. Evaluators will be interested in the team’s capacity to deliver the solution so be sure to provide details about the team members in Section 3 of the application form.

A list is available in Appendix B in the Applicant Guide. The examples are not intended as suggestions, but rather to demonstrate a range of potential responses to the Challenge statement.

No, the number of housing units created in the Challenge time frame is not part of the evaluation. This round is supporting the adoption, replication and scaling of construction processes, techniques, systems and materials in order to accelerate the creation and renovation of units. Please see the Applicant Guide for information regarding the Evaluation Criteria and information regarding when building units may be included as part of the solution activities.

Yes, solutions relating to single unit dwellings, multi-unit structures, and mixed-use buildings are all applicable to this round.

Solutions that primarily seek to develop training programs are not eligible for the Building for the Future Round. However, solutions may include training costs as expenses in their budget if these costs will be necessary to complete the Challenge, ensure the success of the solution, or to help support the long-term operations of any units built, tools created, systems developed, etc. as part of the Round activities.

As is the case for training programs, solutions that primarily seek to address regulatory dependencies are not eligible for this Round. However, solutions that require special regulatory permissions in order to be implemented, adopted, replicated, or scaled, may include related expenses for time and activities needed to do so.

Underused solutions, or solutions with limited adoption are acceptable and welcome. Solutions in this round are expected to have already completed some prototyping and testing, and they may be in use in a limited capacity.

Solutions that have been commercialized are eligible for the program so long as they have only been adopted in a limited capacity. Please review the list of eligible and ineligible expenses in the Applicant Guide in the Challenge Structure – Funding section.

Applications will be accepted through the online applicant form on the Impact Canada website. If you require a paper version, please request this by email at challenge@cmhc.ca no later than March 3rd, 2023. Paper applications must be received by the April 13th, 2023, 2:00 p. m. ET deadline (please allow time for delivery). Note that CMHC will not be responsible for any delays in receipt of a paper application.

For guidance on filling out the applicant form, please refer to the Applicant Guide or reach out to the Housing Supply Challenge Support Program, run by Evergreen, by email at HSC-DOLsupport4@evergreen.ca or call (647) 670-2265.

Note: Only materials submitted via the Application Form will be accepted and evaluated.

Yes. If all required sections are not filled out by applicants, the application might be deemed incomplete and will not be evaluated. Questions that are optional are clearly marked.

Section 3.2 of the application form asks you to provide a detailed budget to account for the items and activities you will purchase or undertake if you are shortlisted to develop the Implementation plan for your solution. The constraints are the Stage 2 timeframe (July 2023-December 2023) and the budget you have secured for these activities, including up to $150,000 in Incubation Funding. The budget needs to show what the Incubation Funding would be used for. The numbers provided in the budget can be cost estimates that are further refined and updated during Stage 2 if the applicant is selected. The work plan needs to include a preliminary list of the project activities. The work plan can be used to put the items and activities mentioned on the budget into context. Like the budget, the work plan may be further refined and updated during Stage 2.

The description of steps to engage with those who will use your solutions, those who might benefit from it, those who will be affected by it and those who will implement it should show some initial thinking around how people will be engaged to give feedback about the solution. Plans do not need to be confirmed, but they should be realistic and include clear identification of groups that would need to give input. Appendix C of the Applicant Guide provides additional guidance to support applicants to consider their activities and response to this question.

The application to the Building for the Future round does not require that the Applicant provide a physical address of the proposed solution for submission. Applicants are responsible for resolving any dependencies, including land acquisition, if that is required to realize their solution. Land acquisition is not an eligible expense in the Building for the Future round, so applicants who plan to acquire land to make their solution possible are advised to share how they will do so in Section 4 of the Application form.

A panel of evaluators, selected based on their specific expertise, will assess Stage 1 applications for shortlisting and for Incubation funding. Selection will be based on a combination of score relative to the evaluation criteria and the solution`s overall contribution toward addressing the Challenge statement.

Applicants shortlisted for Stage 2 will be eligible for $150 000 in Incubation funding. See the “Challenge Structure” section of the Applicant Guide for further details about funding and the evaluation selection process.

When shortlisted applicants apply for Stage 3 Implementation funding, the applicant will propose a budget based on their project expenses. The evaluation panel reviews this proposed budget and determines how much to recommend for each funded solution that proceeds to Stage 3. Further details will be provided to shortlisted applicants in the Stage 2.

The evaluation panel will include external subject matter experts from various sectors (for example, engineers, builders, housing providers, architects, regulators, etc.). We are committed to assembling a diverse pan-Canadian panel to ensure an equitable evaluation process.

For evaluation, CMHC assembles a panel of evaluators representing a variety of communities and regions, and selected based on their specific expertise in various sectors (for example, engineers, builders, housing providers, architects, regulators, etc.). Care is taken to ensure that evaluators with relevant background and expertise specific to the application are assigned to evaluate those applications.

For each round of the Challenge, CMHC holds research interviews with those who are interested in participating, and who have a wide range of relevant expertise and experience. This process helps the design develop in a manner that is informed by diverse perspectives and is inclusive and welcoming to applicants with diverse backgrounds, including Inuit, First Nations and Métis. The program is iterative, and each round continues to build on the learnings of previous rounds in order to continually improve the inclusivity of the program.

The designers develop a new list of people and organizations to invite for interviews for each round. In some instances, it is relevant to return to those interviewed in a previous round’s design but given the difference in topic from round to round, the list of those interviewed is substantially different.

No, expenses incurred before the signing of the Stage 2 contribution letter application are not eligible for Incubation funding.

Contribution agreements for Implementation funding (Stage 3) will be negotiated in spring 2024 among applicants that are selected for their solution to be funded. All funding must be distributed in accordance with the contribution agreement by March 2025 at the latest. The term of the contribution agreement will be no longer than 15 months.

One incorporated entity needs to be identified as the Applicant on the application form. This organization will receive the funding and distribute it according to what the team members have negotiated between themselves, and any agreements or arrangements between team members are the responsibility of the Applicant. See the Terms and Conditions in the Applicant Guide for further information.

Applicants are responsible for managing their own budgets. Applicants are encouraged to propose realistic budgets for their solutions in their applications in order to help prevent budget surpluses and shortfalls. In cases where either of these circumstances occurs, the HSC team will discuss directly with shortlisted or funded applicants to determine next steps. If the Applicant is experiencing a budget shortage, they may be encouraged to seek outside sources of funding, or to look at other CMHC funding programs, like the Innovation Fund (if eligible) which can be stacked with the HSC funding.

Yes, you can. Participants can only apply as a Lead Applicant once per round, but they can apply to multiple rounds if they wish to. Note that the same project activities cannot be funded by more than one Housing Supply Challenge round, but participants can apply to multiple rounds with different activities.

Please refer to the table below to guide you as to how to best use the programs to support your solution. Note that you may apply to both programs as stacking of funding from other sources is permitted so long as the funding is used for different activities on the project(s).

Future rounds of the Housing Supply Challenge are expected to focus on Scaling Solutions.