Housing is integral to community development

With appropriate housing, people have a much greater chance of developing to their full potential for everyone's benefit. Children and youth growing up in a healthy house enjoy tremendous advantages. We assist in developing ambitious housing projects, and we help determine how to make them viable. We also blend in our knowledge of environmentally appropriate building design, and recommend the use of energy-efficient techniques, equipment and building materials that are healthy for the environment and for the occupants.

In 2009, our firm was hired to prepare funding applications for Moose Cree Housing for New Construction and Retrofits. We assisted the community to develop proposals to Canada's Economic Action Plan through two departments: Indian Affairs (INAC) and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). These submissions were successful in securing $955,000 in funding which led to the construction of 12 new units as well as an extensive program of retrofits and renovations to existing INAC and CMHC units.

Our firm was then hired by Moose Cree First Nation to develop an application for housing to the First Nation Market Housing Fund. On June 21, 2010, our submission was approved in full for up to $18,875,000. In addition to the community members gaining access to market-based loans for mortgages, the community will also be benefiting from a significant additional package of support with funding for capacity building and training for the First Nation housing staff and the finance department.