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How can Canada create affordable paths to home ownership?
An ambitious collaboration with Habitat for Humanity is reimagining home ownership in Waterloo and beyond
This urgent question is at the heart of a new living lab launched by the Future Cities Institute (FCI) founded by CAIVAN in partnership with BUILD NOW, an initiative led by Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region.
BUILD NOW sets out a bold new model of affordable home ownership that could reshape how communities across Canada approach housing. The goal is to build 10,000 “missing middle” homes by 2030. FCI is embedding a living lab in the first 25-acre development site in Waterloo.
“This partnership with BUILD NOW is a great example of how we approach innovation at the Future Cities Institute,” says Leia Minaker, director of the FCI. “It’s a very exciting model with real potential, but our responsibility is not to celebrate it uncritically, our job is to collect evidence, evaluate outcomes and understand its impact on families and our region.”
Through the living lab, the FCI is demonstrating a pragmatic path forward: test bold ideas, measure them carefully, and share insights widely to communities and municipalities across Canada.
“Canada needs housing solutions that are both ambitious and practical,” Minaker says. “By asking tough questions and working across sectors, we can help build communities that are fair, productive and future proof.”
The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.
