Habitat for Humanity Canada -The Podcast Habitat for Humanity Canada & iContact Productions

If you have specific questions about Habitat's model of affordable homeownership, including mortgage, eligibility criteria or current builds, please reach out to your local Habitat for more information. Please note that eligibility criteria and mortgage models vary between local Habitat for Humanity organizations.

Habitat for Humanity Canada’s unique model of affordable homeownership has helped more than 3300 families build strength, stability and independence. The model is one based on the idea of partnerships, of both personal and community commitment to building
“Many people believe we give away homes,” says Mark Rodgers, Habitat Canada’s President and CEO. “We do not. This is not a lottery. We have a program that is geared to help families that many not be able to get a conventional mortgage.”
Habitat homeowners purchase their home at fair-market value and pay a no down payment, interest-free affordable mortgage after successfully applying.
Eligibility criteria can vary between local Habitats, and may be dependent upon the type of home being built. But there are three main criteria that all applicants must meet in order to qualify for Habitat’s affordable homeownership program:
In need of better housing: applicants might be dealing with poorly maintained, unhealthy or overcrowded housing; unaffordable rent; inaccessible housing for people living with disabilities. Able to make affordable mortgage payments. Willingness to partner with Habitat: Habitat homeowners put in up to 500 hours volunteering with Habitat either on the build site, at their local Habitat ReStore or while taking training in personal finance, home maintenance or other homeownership topics. According to a Boston Consulting Group report on the social impact of Habitat’s work, there is $175,000 of benefits given back to the community for every Habitat home built. That comes from families being able to build enough financial stability through affordable mortgage payments to be able to buy more groceries and not have to go to the food bank. For some families, it means being able to afford having their kids play soccer or hockey, or the parents can afford to go back to school to further their education and their career prospects.
The goal for Habitat for Humanity in Canada is to build more homes and serve more families. Many local Habitats across the country are building not just a home, but large communities of 50, 60, and 70-unit developments.
“I want to see a day come when we’re talking about complexes and developments of 200 and 300 homes,” says Mark. “We have to be focused on the future and recognize that the need for affordable housing in this country will continue to grow.”

Habitat’s corporate donors understand the impact that decent housing has on the communities they work in. Not only do they understand it, and donate – they often want to find a deeper way to give back – a way that also helps engage their employees in the giving as well. With Habitat Canada, that’s a win-win situation. Corporate partnerships help Habitat build more homes and provide more families with affordable homeownership opportunities. But it’s also good business sense. A study on corporate social responsibility showed that, when employees are engaged in corporate social responsibility initiatives, there is a 50 per cent reduction in turnover rates and a 13 per cent increase in productivity.
Habitat Canada’s President and CEO, Mark Rodgers, says employees who volunteer have a unique opportunity to get involved in the mission when they build with Habitat for Humanity.
“They can work alongside the family,” says Rodgers. “They can literally get to know the mission, firsthand, of what we do and I think that resonates deeply for corporations that want to engage their employees.”
In this week’s podcast episode we hear from three long-time corporate supporters about why they’re so connected to Habitat’s mission, and how engaging their employees in their corporate social responsibility efforts are not only reflective of their organizational values, but are integrated into their operations.
Whirlpool Canada not only provides their employees with opportunities to volunteer on Habitat build sites, the company also donates a fridge and stove for every new Habitat home in Canada.
Genworth Canada is the country’s largest private residential mortgage insurer. In addition to creating an employee engagement program, Genworth is the founding sponsor of Habitat Canada’s Meaning of Home youth writing contest. More than 7,000 grade school students submitted essays to the 2018 competition and raised $170,000 to help build homes across the country.
Nissan Canada has been a Habitat Canada sponsor and supporter for 10 years. The company’s President and CEO Joni Paiva says the Habitat mission is a perfect fit for Nissan.
“We’re very fortunate to work and do business in Canada, so we must give back to the community,” said Paiva. When it comes to having employees volunteer with Habitat, Paiva says that employees come away feeling like they are doing something bigger than themselves, and something that they couldn’t do alone, reinforcing the fact that employee volunteering is a great way to build better teams.
For more information about Habitat Canada’s corporate supporters or to find out how you can donate or volunteer on a build site with your workplace, visit habitat.ca/teambuilding.

Charlie MacArthur is Senior Vice-President of Assisted Housing at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). No stranger to Habitat for Humanity Canada, Charlie has not only seen firsthand the impact the Habitat home, he’s also picked up a hammer and joined volunteers in helping build homes. He says Habitat for Humanity has been a catalyst in shaping affordable housing programs and policy.
“The strength of the organization, the credibility of the organization and the willingness to do the right thing every time makes it easy to work with Habitat,” says MacArthur.
Habitat Canada relies on long-term relationships with dozens of private sector supporters. But it’s the partnership with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation that has resulted in a number of significant Habitat initiatives, including Habitat Canada’s Indigenous Housing Partnerships and numerous Habitat build projects across the country.
Creativity is one of the key ingredients that make this partnership work so well. It’s the groundwork for the inventive and innovative approaches to Habitat’s mortgage financing that has helped thousands of Canadian families achieve the goal of affordable homeownership. 
Mark Rodgers, President and CEO at Habitat for Humanity Canada says the relationship with CMHC has helped with funding opportunities, research and resources. “But most importantly, they’ve helped us move the needle on some of the big issues and big programs for us,” says Rodgers. “We have served numerous Indigenous families and communities across the country for many years now. And CMHC was really at the foundation of that. They actually were the founders – the sponsors of [Indigenous Housing Partnership] and helped us get it launched. And now we’ve been able to take that and run with it and really engage Indigenous communities across the country.”

In the newest episode of Habitat Canada’s podcast, we meet Habitat GTA homeowner Karen who was able to move her family out of an area of Toronto rife with gun violence and high crime to a safe, accepting neighbourhood in the city.
We also meet a donor and volunteer who has been giving his time, his expertise, and even his own furniture and building materials to Habitat ReStores and other local Habitats in Canada for more than 15 years, Scott McGillivray. In addition to his show Moving the McGillivrays, which featured Karen and her family, Scott is well known for the award-winning hit show Income Property, Buyers Bootcamp and his online series Scott’s House Call. Scott admits he didn’t realize the full effect he was having on others when he first got involved with Habitat for Humanity.
Nor did Karen understand the effect Scott would have on her young family. Find out how giving to Habitat connected Scott and Karen, and how Karen is doing after moving into her Habitat home two years ago with her family in this episode of the podcast.
The gifts of giving and receiving are at the heart of the success of our mission at Habitat for Humanity Canada. Thousands of families have achieved their goal of affordable homeownership because of donors and volunteers and welcoming communities across the country who share Habitat’s vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. We all give because it makes us feel connected to something beyond ourselves. We give because it brings joy or comfort to others, which, in turn, brings us joy. It makes us happy, and there are studies to prove it.
Meghan Reddick is Vice President of Brand Strategy and Communications at Habitat Canada. She says first-time volunteers or donors don’t realize how the smallest of gestures can have a significant and lasting effect on the lives of others.
”When you donate or volunteer with us, you really get to see tangible impact. There is a house that you can touch and feel. But really it’s so much more than a house, it’s about the family, their stability and the impact it has on their future,” says Reddick. “When someone decides to give their time, talent or treasure, whether you are swinging a hammer or giving a few bucks – at the end of the day you should really feel good about giving. Giving should bring you joy.”
 
 
 
 

An international volunteer initiative, Habitat for Humanity Canada’s Global Village program is driven by thousands of volunteers each year who work hand in hand with Habitat Canada and local Habitat for Humanity organizations around the world to build decent and affordable homes for people in need of housing. It’s a part of Habitat’s vision that everyone should have a decent place to live – both at home in Canada, and around the world.
Erin O’Neill is Habitat Canada’s Vice President, Global Engagement. “Habitat’s Global Village program allows Canadians from all walks of life to engage in our global mission in a hands on way by building alongside communities and future Habitat for Humanity homeowners to build and improve their housing and shelter,” says Erin. “Volunteers help in a number of different ways – from building new homes to upgrading existing homes with improvements such as latrines, water filtration systems infrastructure or smokeless stoves.”
In this episode, we’re joined by two ‘team leaders’ – Global Village volunteers who work with Habitat Canada to lead groups of volunteers to work on Habitat build projects. We welcome Janet Joy Wilson from Ontario and Ernie Fraser from his home in British Columbia. 
Ernie has volunteered on more than half a dozen builds in Eastern Europe, including work on a homeless shelter in Poland. But he’s also led Habitat Canada Global Village volunteer teams across the country – in Iqaluit, Yukon and New Brunswick.
Janet has been on build sites with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala and Habitat for Humanity Vietnam and has twice led Global Village volunteer groups to help Habitat build new and improved housing. She says her Global Village experience has been a rare opportunity to be part of a community, a family and real change.
For more information about Habitat Canada’s Global Village volunteer program and how you can help build with Habitat for Humanity, visit our website at habitatglobalvillage.ca. To find out more about some of the international projects we’re working on, click here.
From October 3 to December 10, we’re releasing a new podcast every Monday, featuring stories about Habitat for Humanity in Canada. Next Monday, we’ll be hearing from HGTV star, and long-time Habitat supporter, Scott McGillivray about why giving matters. We’ll also hear from Karen, a Habitat homeowner who worked alongside Scott on her Habitat home in his show Moving the McGillivrays.  Karen shares the impact buying a Habitat home has had on her and her family.

Habitat for Humanity Canada has enjoyed a rich history of success since it was first established in 1985. Volunteers and donors, along with welcoming communities, have built safe, accessible, and affordable homes for hundreds of Canadian families. While it’s easy to point to Habitat’s ‘years of experience’, Habitat Canada’s President and CEO Mark Rodgers says it’s important that we acknowledge the energy and enthusiasm that young Canadians contribute to Habitat Canada.
“There are youth across this country who recognize that affordable housing is a serious social issue for Canada and they are standing up and making a tangible change. They’re not just picking up a hammer. They’re raising funds. They’re raising their voice to say that this must change,” says Rodgers. “I think the future’s very bright for Habitat because of the number of youth across this country who are getting engaged at a national and an international level.”
In this episode of The Podcast, we meet three young Canadians who are leaders in their own right and examples of the Habitat mission in action.
Josh Morrison lives in Ontario. He was 12 years old when he walked into a local ReStore and he decided there and then that he needed to raise $100,000 to build a Habitat home.
“I honestly just felt that God was telling me that I had to help out with that. There was a family in need. They needed a house and the $100,000 didn’t really faze me. I just thought it’s perfectly achievable. From then on I just went for it.”
That, in and of itself, is a remarkable attitude. But Josh raised the bar for his fundraiser. He decided he would collect $100,000 in pennies! That’s 10 million pennies.
“I just knew, no matter how long it took me, I was going to get that money.”
And he did. Not all of it in pennies - mind you. As his campaign gained momentum, a number of donors came forward with cash, cheques, and matching donations. And five years later, Josh raised $120,000 to build a Habitat home in Durham.
Peter Oliviera and Alison Kong-Foon are both engineers who caught the Habitat bug while studying at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. Peter and some of his classmates actually spear-headed the effort to establish a Habitat campus chapter.
“It was something that me and my friends believed in so we just went for it. We were super excited and (the Manager of the Waterloo Habitat chapter) was right along with us. We found the resources and we were able to run with it.”
Alison is among the second generation of Waterloo students who jumped on the Habitat bandwagon. She says joining the campus chapter broadened her own education and university experience beyond the Faculty of Engineering.
“You get to meet people from different programs and it’s something that you’re all passionate about at the same time.”
Above all, Peter and Alison say their Habitat experience just goes to show that young people can make a significant difference in their communities and in the lives of others who need help.
For more information or to find your local Habitat, visit our website www.habitat.ca.