Georgian Bay Housing Initiative

Our society currently stands at a crossroads where we are faced with two crises. These crises are intertwined at the macro micro level. The first is affordable housing and the second global warming. We must embark on an urgent program to provide affordable housing solutions across a wide continuum of needs and providers in a sustainable form to achieve carbon reduction targets to keep global warming rates beneath catastrophic levels.

The Georgian Bay Housing Corporation (GBHC) Initiative seeks to – provide sustainable housing to support rental and homeownership choices for our community in a sustainable way. We cannot continue to make the 50-year mistake of designing, constructing, and maintaining homes which only make no lasting contribution to solving our climate crisis.

"The United Nations estimates that the built environment accounts for about 40% of the global energy use. Our buildings fuel this climate crisis, including those achieving energy efficiency targets by relying on GHG-intensive materials and construction methods (high embodied carbon)".

We have an opportunity to apply appropriate policy, resources, templates, and tools to support new efficient processes across our region to ensure a sustainable future for affordable, low carbon housing through advanced housing design, planning, and building processes and techniques.

Features of the Georgian Bay Housing Initiative

· Regional solution working with municipal and county partners

· Commitment to a board with strong development of Housing Expertise

· Public, NGOs, Private Partnerships

CORPORATION PROFILE

Overview

The Georgian Bay Housing Initiative is currently exploring incorporation Q2 2023 as a single member, non-share capital corporation under the Ontario Corporations Act. The GBHC will be an arm’s length, non-profit corporation (NFP) created to deliver affordable sustainable housing. The NFP will be comprised of a team with specific expertise in how to deliver housing in its’ various forms and markets, centralizing the knowledge, skills, expertise, and tools required to develop and deliver housing throughout the region.

It will offer a full range of services including development, resources, tools, templates, policies land acquisition and sale, technical consultation for social, environment and economic requirements with partners in relevant sectors, all to be ratified through agreements with local communities, developers to include: Clearview, Collingwood, Grey Highlands, Meaford, Owen Sound, TOBM, Wasaga Beach and beyond. This new NFP Corporation is founded Canadian affordable housing development best practices.

Goals:

• To deliver housing regionally

• To enable 70% of residents who live in the region to remain in the region

Georgian Bay Housing Working Group (GBHC)

The GBHC is comprised of housing expertise is made up of financers, sustainability/net zero subject matter experts,  builders, contractors, project managers, construction experts, marketing experts, engineers, housing providers, planners, and business development/outreach specialists. 

Our goal is to work together to execute housing regionally.