Canadian Housing and Renewal Association

The Canadian Housing and Renewal Association (CHRA) is a national non-profit association in Canada that represents those working in and/or concerned with the state of affordable housing and homelessness in Canada.

CHRA's main objectives include:

• keeping homes affordable;
• ending homelessness;
• renewing communities and
• creating a sustainable housing profession.

CHRA aims to achieve these goals through all of its activities; including:

• federal-level advocacy;
• an annual congress;
• creating opportunities for members to share ideas and best practices;
• providing online and in-person learning opportunities; and
• disseminating housing- and homelessness-related information to members and the broader housing and homelessness sectors.

History

In the mid-sixties, a group of concerned urban renewal professionals in Toronto became members of the Upper New York State Chapter of the National Association of Housing Renewal Officials (NAHRO). From this nucleus in 1967 the Canadian Association of Housing & Renewal Officials (CAHRO) was formed.

The original members of CAHRO were concerned with urban renewal; however, this changed with the development of a national membership and the introduction of the Neighbourhood Improvement Program (NIP). As stated in the CAHRO constitution at the time, the objectives of the association were:

"to promote understanding of housing, community renewal, housing development, programs and policies, and rehabilitation and property standards affecting the urban environment at the municipal level, and to promote this understanding through dissemination of information on legislation and techniques."

During the early seventies, the membership was limited to several hundred. The annual conference was the only regular meeting and correspondence was limited to a mailout before that annual meeting. This changed somewhat in 1977 when a small newsletter - COMMUNIQUE - was sent to members at irregular intervals in response to new federal policy in housing .This newsletter and other activities were very much limited by resources which were derived from membership dues and any small profits from the annual conference.

In early 1977, the president of CAHRO approached the then Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) requesting funding to establish a small national office with an executive director. CAHRO felt that unless and until the association had such an office, it wcould not become an effective municipal voice in housing.

Initial meetings between the two agencies centred on this proposal; however, past experience with other similar operations lead CMHC to suggest funding for a more clearly product-oriented agreement. In the late summer of 1977, CAHRO submitted a proposal to CMHC for funding of a national housing magazine. This proposal was approved in the summer of 1978 and an agreement was signed.

In the agreement, CMHC agreed to fund CAHRO for two purposes:

1. "To produce a periodical on housing and neighbourhood revitalization and related activites.
2. To generate revenues that attempt to recover some of the costs of the publication by promoting and expanding CAHRO membership and activities."

Further specifications concerning the periodical were made. It was to be bilingual, national and produced six times per year. In 1978, there were to be two issues. Further more,

"it will contain practical and technical information to address program delivery problems and improve skills; illustrations, analyses, news and comments related to the wide range of housing and rehabilitation issues and activities. It will review current resources material and provide an inquiry service to its readers who will primarily include the various public and private groups and individuals involved in the delivery of NIP and RRAP, and other related housing and rehabilitation activity."

Interviews for the magazine staff were held in August 1978 and by early September, three people were set up in the CAHRO national office in Fredericton, New Brunswick working on the first issue of IMPACT.

During its six-year history, IMPACT communicated CAHRO's responses to government housing policies and positions, voiced housing-related issues and policies that emerged at the municipal level, and provided articles and opinions from across the country.

In 1984, CAHRO moved to a national office in Ottawa and hired Heather Lang-Runtz as the new Executive Director/Editor. Tied to this decision came the decision to create a national housing magazine that would not only disseminate information to members but would also help to increase the organization's capacity to attract new members and become a stronger advocate of improved housing in Canada.

In the fall of 1984, the first issue of Canadian Housing was published.

In late 1988, stemming from a decision to broaden the scope of the organization from that of a purely program-specific lobby group toward a more broadly-based national housing organization focusing on housing affordability for Canadians, the name of the organization was changed to the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association (CHRA).

CHRA Today

From the beginning of the CHRA/CMHC funding agreement in 1978 through to the early 2000s, CHRA sustained itself primarily by way of this funding. In 2009, due to federal spending cuts, it became clear that CMHCs funding for CHRA would be cut. The annual funding provided by CMHC to CHRA comes to an end as of the end of December 2010.

CHRA currently aims to replace its CMHC funding through a combination of cutting expenses, increasing membership and increasing revenue generation through services.

External links

• Official website
• Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
• National Association of Housing Renewal Officials