Release the funds as fast as possible - we can spend it quickly and where it is needed most
In the wake of the Government of Canada’s 2024 budget release, AHMA and their provincial and federal partners are asking to speed up the delivery of funding promised for those most in need. Federal budget 2024 boasts increased spending on housing but Indigenous housing experts want expedited action on implementation.
AHMA Statement on CRAB Park Resident Displacement
It is also critical that encampment responses be For Indigenous, By Indigenous. Indigenous housing experts and encampment residents need to be meaningfully included and their voices prioritized in conversations and municipal planning around housing and supports for Indigenous people experiencing homelessness.
Report Finds Indigenous-Led Housing Essential to Addressing Increased Risk of Homelessness for Indigenous Peoples with Diverse Abilities
Indigenous-led housing is essential to reducing the gaps, barriers, and challenges Indigenous Peoples with diverse abilities face. Current systems increase the risk of the most vulnerable falling through the cracks and into a cycle of homelessness.
AHMA Responds to BC Budget 2024
Hard times ahead for Indigenous housing providers. Safe, affordable housing is a key component to ending cycles of poverty and improving health outcomes for Indigenous families but the wait for funds continues.
Rental Protection Fund: Lu’ma Native Housing Society Acquisition
AHMA being a full and equal partner at the table of the Rental Protection Fund is an excellent example of elevating Indigenous leadership. We celebrate our member, Lu’ma Native Housing Society, for their involvement in this acquisition, which helps preserve affordable rental units for future generations.
AHMA Welcomes Long-Awaited Changes to RTA for Supportive Housing Operators
Recent changes to BC’s Residential Tenancy Act help enhance risk management for supportive housing operators and safety for their tenants, which the Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA) strongly advocated for in early 2023.
AHMA’s Advocacy & Engagement Highlights 2023
Throughout 2023 AHMA participated in a number of advocacy and engagement activities to further empower Urban Indigenous Peoples and advocate for greater autonomy and FIBI approaches to housing
AHMA Position Statement: Recognizing Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Need and a Call for Equitable Funding
It is widely known that the playing field is not even - safe, affordable, culturally supportive housing is integral to health, healing, belonging, and well-being: without it, Indigenous Peoples fall further behind.
Meaningful empowerment through Indigenous autonomy and self-determination, supporting For Indigenous, By Indigenous (FIBI) approaches, and appropriate investments to dedicated Indigenous housing are long overdue.
If Our Voices Were Heard - an article by AHMA intern, Christina Rose Gervais
“As a young Indigenous person, I have personally experienced homelessness and it felt like I lost my self-worth. Starting the car every few hours to stay warm, and waking up at sunrise just so I could move and make sure no one knew I was sleeping in my car, was better than the alternatives. I felt alone and I remember crying myself to sleep most nights. Safe, affordable housing would have made all the difference in my world.”
Federal Fall Economic Statement falls flat for Housing Central Partners during Canada’s largest affordable housing conference
The 2023 Fall Economic Statement (FES) made a large effort to put housing at the forefront, but unfortunately it failed to bring substantial change to address the crisis that is impacting countless Canadians. AHMA, along with our Housing Central Partners have responded to the FES announcements and the urgent need for solutions.
Affordable housing conference explores Indigenous housing justice
Canada’s leading community housing event occurs in Vancouver, bringing together the affordable housing sector to focus on solutions amid the challenges of rental scarcity, rising costs, increased homelessness and climate change impacts.
Indigenous housing expert in BC delivers urgent message to Ottawa
Reminder sent to the federal government that safe, affordable housing is a key component to ending cycles of poverty and improving health outcomes for Indigenous families. AHMA is an active participant when it comes to engaging in political processes, and collectively with our partners, we have formally called for the Federal government to allocate resources required to implement year one of AHMA’s Urban, Rural, and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy. Now that Parliament is just a few weeks away from returning for its fall sitting, AHMA wishes to reiterate the asks we put forward for Budget 2024, as well as highlight two additional considerations.
BC’s Rental Protection Fund is now accepting applications
Between 2016 and 2021, there were 97,390 units that rented below $1,000 per month and were lost in B.C. as a result of rising rents. For every new affordable rental home that is built in B.C., three more are lost to investors, conversions, demolitions and rent increases, preventing the province from keeping pace with the demand for affordable housing supply. The Fund will help renters keep their homes while stemming the net loss of affordable rental housing units, and offering renters stability, security and affordability over time.
AHMA’s Supportive Housing Position Paper advocates for changes to promote the inclusion of Indigenous Housing Providers in BC
“We want the government to support measures that will help Indigenous organizations to build their capacity to take on more Indigenous-led supportive housing projects. We want the government to create a dedicated funding stream for supportive housing for Indigenous-led organizations. We want a Call for Interest process developed for supportive housing opportunities so AHMA members can prepare their applications early and seek assistance when needed.”
Indigenous housing advocates in BC watch as Feds fail to deliver on housing
Safe, affordable housing is a key component to ending cycles of poverty and improving health outcomes for Indigenous families but the wait for federal funds continues. Read more here.
"On behalf of the AHMA Board of Directors, we are extremely disappointed in the Federal 2023 budget. If we are to tackle and address the issue of the ever growing disproportionate number of Indigenous peoples who are homeless or on the brink of homelessness in urban, rural, and northern communities, the Federal Government must invest what is required to effectively implement what we have outlined in the URNIHS" - Gary Wilson, President and Chair of AHMA’s Board of Directors
Indigenous Housing Coalition calls on the federal government to commit to funding a National Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy
In a press conference held February 7, 2023, National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc. (NICHI), an organization representing Indigenous housing providers across the country, called on the federal government to commit a minimum of $6 billion in the 2023 federal budget to meet its commitment to develop an Urban, Rural and Northern (URN) Indigenous Housing Strategy and create Canada’s first-ever National Indigenous Housing Centre.
“Investments in affordable housing must include funding for culturally relevant community resources, health services, and education to break the systemic cycle of housing insecurity that has left so many Indigenous families behind,” said Margaret Pfoh, CEO, Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA) and NICHI board member. “We know that stable, supportive housing is vital for the safety and well-being of Indigenous women and their children.”
Community Leaders stand together to advocate for Indigenous Housing in BC
On the one-year anniversary of publicly publishing their research-based Indigenous Housing Strategy for BC, which has garnered national attention, AHMA is now launching a new video. The video features stories of lived experience with housing precarity along with the massive outpouring of support for Indigenous housing from every corner of BC.
“There was no question about the unification and collective backing we saw,” said Margaret Pfoh, AHMA CEO. “For Indigenous, By Indigenous (FIBI) solutions are clearly presented in AHMA’s strategy, and they are the only way forward. Everyone agrees. When it comes to Indigenous housing, the need is great and so is the support – watch our video to see this for yourself.”
“Home is where we learn who we are.” - Carol Archie
New Rental Protection Fund will help address growing loss of affordable housing in BC
The provincial government announced today that a new $500-million fund will be managed by B.C.’s community housing organizations to help deliver safe, affordable, and culturally supportive housing for individuals and families across B.C.
The newly developed Rental Protection Fund will enable non-profits to purchase and manage residential buildings to secure their affordability forever. This investment will lay the groundwork for better long-term livability, equity, and affordability in B.C. The Fund will assist non-profits to address the impact of the housing and homelessness crisis and help correct the past decade’s significant erosion of rental homes available to low- and moderate-income British Columbians.
The Fund will be jointly managed and distributed through a non-profit society created by the Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA), BC Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA), and the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC (CHF BC).
