Rapid Housing Initiative Round 3
The City of Saskatoon is pleased to announce it has been identified, under Round 3 of the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI) – Cities Stream, for immediate funding to create new permanent affordable housing and/or purchase existing buildings that will be rehabilitated or converted into permanent affordable housing.
On November 10, 2022, the Government of Canada through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) announced Round 3 of RHI funding. Under the Cities Stream, $500M has been allocated to 41 pre-determined municipalities which includes the City of Saskatoon. More information about the Rapid Housing Initiative can be found on the CMHC website.
Organizations interested in applying for RHI funding through the Saskatoon Cities Stream must submit a Letter of Intent for their proposed affordable housing project by December 15, 2022 to housinginfo@saskatoon.ca.
Letters of Intent must confirm that projects will meet the mandatory minimum requirements:
- Applicants will be required to achieve a percentage of building occupancy within 18 months of the date of the contribution agreement.
- All projects are expected to maintain financial viability for the 20 years of the contribution agreement.
- Affordability must be maintained for a minimum of 20 years.
- Non-government entities which do not have confirmed sources of government subsidies will be asked to demonstrate their capacity to support units without additional sources of financial support.
- Non-profit organizations must have 5 years of applicable experience with similar housing.
- All units must serve and be affordable (i.e. household is paying less than 30 per cent of gross income on housing costs or the shelter component of any provincial or territorial income assistance as an equivalent) to targeted people and populations who are, or otherwise would be, in severe housing need or experiencing, or at imminent risk of homelessness.
- At least 25 per cent of RHI funding will go towards women-focused housing projects.
- Transitional Housing must provide tenancy for a minimum of 3 months at a time.
- The primary use of the project must be for residential purposes.
- All projects must have a minimum of 5 units or beds.
- All projects must have a minimum RHI contribution request of $1 million.
- New buildings must exceed local accessibility requirements by at least 5%.
- New buildings must meet or exceed energy efficiency standards as set out in the National Energy Code for Buildings or National Building Code.
In addition, applicants must indicate that they are prepared to enter into a fixed price contract with a construction company/general contractor/modular manufacturer who has a minimum of 5 years of demonstrated experience building projects of similar type, size and scope.
Additional Information
The following are the eligible forms of housing:
- New Construction: Support the new construction of single, scattered units up to larger multi-unit rental projects, which can include land acquisition. Traditional construction methods and modular housing are accepted if the units can be delivered within the 18-month timeline.
- Conversions: Support the acquisition and conversion of non-residential buildings to affordable housing.
- Rehabilitations: Support the acquisition of an existing building in state of disrepair or abandoned for the purpose of rehabilitation to affordable housing. Rehabilitation of units is defined as units that are in disrepair and/or abandoned and in both cases are uninhabitable or have been lost from the housing stock. These units must not be currently occupied or available to be occupied.
Priority will be given to Indigenous-led organizations and/or projects which are targeted to urban Indigenous peoples. In addition, a minimum of 25% of the RHI funding must create housing for women and/or women and their children.
Additional points will be assessed by the City for project submissions that:
- Already have a site (owned or leased) with appropriate zoning in place; and
- Have other sources of capital funding or cost-sharing secured to supplement the RHI funding. Loans are not an approved source of funding under RHI.
- Exceed minimum accessibility and energy efficiency requirements.
Eligible property types include:
- standard rental,
- transitional housing (minimum 3 months),
- permanent supportive housing,
- single room occupancy, and
- seniors’ housing (excludes delivery of healthcare).
The City is using a three-stage process to identify projects for this funding stream.
• Stage 1 is a Letter of Intent, due by December 15, 2022.
- The City of Saskatoon will contact those selected to move forward to Stage 2 by no later than January 30, 2023.
• Stage 2 is negotiations and project development with selected applicants.
• Stage 3 is a detailed submission, which must be submitted by the City through CMHC’s online portal by March 15, 2023.
Further information and updates related to RHI Round 3 will be posted here as available. If you have any questions, please email housinginfo@saskatoon.ca or contact Sarah King, Housing Analyst at sarah.king@saskatoon.ca or 306-975-2774, or Andy Collin, Customer Service Manager at andy.collin@saskatoon.ca or 306-986-5788