The CRD's Regional Housing division has a team called Housing Initiatives & Programs. It develops plans and policies for affordable housing across the region.
In addition, it administers the Reaching Home Program: Canada's Homelessness Strategy, an $11.5-million, five-year agreement under the Designated Communities stream, with the goal to prevent and reduce chronic homelessness.
Learn more about this work in the following sections.
The Reaching Home Program: Canada's Homelessness Strategy is a community-based program aimed at reducing and preventing homelessness. Officially launched April 1, 2019, the Government of Canada's Homelessness Strategy supports the most vulnerable people in the capital region by improving access to safe, stable and affordable housing.
Infrastructure Canada has awarded Designated Communities funding to the CRD as the community entity to administer in the Victoria Census Metropolitan Area.
Funding is being allocated to initiatives that address outcomes identified in the 2024-26 Community Plan [PDF/5.1MB], along with Reaching Home Program requirements outlined in the Reaching Home Directives related to Coordinated Access and Homeless Information Management Systems.
The Homeless Individuals and Families Information System (HIFIS) is a data and case management system. It allows multiple service providers in a community to access real-time data. It aims to improve services for unhoused people and support their housing stability. HIFIS supports daily operations, coordinated access, data collection and development of a regional understanding of homelessness.
Coordinated Access is a system where communities prioritize people who are most in need of assistance and match them to appropriate available housing and services. The system helps to ensure fairness and streamlines access to housing and services.
The Regional Housing First Program is an innovative partnership. It involves the CRD, the BC Government, and the Government of Canada. The goal is to end chronic homelessness and create new rental housing on southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.
The program aims to meet a broad range of housing needs while moving at-risk individuals into long-term, tenant-based, supported housing to enable individuals to recover and integrate into society. The program removes the need for support programs in specific locations. Instead, where needed, flexible, mobile services will be delivered within the region's housing units.
The CRD Board set up the Regional Housing Trust Fund (RHTF) in 2005. They recognized that housing affordability is a key issue in the capital region. The fund provided capital grants for "bricks and mortar" for acquiring, developing, and retaining affordable housing for low- or moderate-income households. It has created an ongoing equity stake that can leverage more funds from federal, provincial, and private sector partners.
The Regional Housing Trust Fund Commission prioritized the use of RHTF grants for the development of affordable housing units within approved Regional Housing First Program projects. RHTF applications have been suspended until further notice.
The CRD is working with BC Housing, the BC Ministry of Housing, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada and other provincial CEs on an aligned partnership for a more integrated response to homelessness at the local level. Over the last year, our federal and provincial partners have developed shared vision and goals to work with community partners toward a homelessness response in BC that is coordinated, data driven and aligned for greater impact for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in the province. They have developed shared goals for integrated local governance, a coordinated access process that prevents and reduces homelessness, and data driven approaches to support informed decisions at all levels.
Currently we’re exploring how we can align Reaching Home program requirements with BC Housing’s Coordinated Access and Assessment program at the community level. The goal is to create a clear, transparent provincial approach that is aligned with federal Reaching Home and provincial Belonging in BC goals, supported by HIFIS (Homeless Individuals and Families Information System). Updates will be added as we move forward with this project.
The Capital Regional District (CRD) Rural Housing Program is a three-year pilot initiative serving the Southern Gulf Islands and Salt Spring Island Electoral Areas.
Housing Data and Analysis
The CRD engages in research and analysis to support effective planning at both the regional and local level. Data on local incomes, housing costs, and availability helps. It prioritizes developing affordable housing in the region. One key source of information is the Housing Data Book and Gap Analysis. The Data Book is a key source of regional and municipal data. It covers the housing stock, trends, market conditions, tenure, income, and needs. The Data Book will be a key source for monitoring and updating the Regional Housing Affordability Strategy. In 2022, reports on housing feasibility and the market were made for the Southern Gulf Islands. They explored the unique, complex factors behind housing affordability and availability.
The CRD has supported two housing needs assessments in the region. One was for the Southern Gulf Islands. The other was for the Saanich Peninsula communities. The reports summarize the key data needed to support affordable housing in these unique communities. This includes both quantitative and qualitative data.
The Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria (CSPC) conducted its fourth one-day Point-in-Time Count of homeless people in the region on March 7, 2023. This count and survey of homeless individuals in sheltered and unsheltered locations provides a snapshot of where they slept that night. The Count was sponsored by the CRD, as the administrator of the Reaching Home Program, and funded by the Government of Canada's Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy.
The Hospitals and Housing Committee (HHC) received the 2020 Housing and Transportation Cost Estimate Study on July 29, 2020. The report follows an HHC directive to examine housing and transportation costs in the capital region for overall affordability. Staff were requested to do this earlier in the spring. The study on cost estimates shows housing and transportation costs vary widely across the region. It provides a baseline on those costs.
The CRD conducts its business within the Territories of many First Nations, all of whom have a long-standing relationship with the land and waters from time immemorial that continues to this day. Statement of Reconciliation
