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 and connecting members through an annual congress, information and idea- and best practices-sharing as well as online and in-person learning opportunities.

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 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."