We’re introducing some need-to-know housing concepts to help you navigate complex housing conversations so you can vote like housing is your priority too!

What is non-market housing?
Definition

Non-market housing is a housing option for people in an income group not served by the private market. This type of housing is made affordable through ownership by public entities, government, or non-profit organizations as opposed to private landlords. Non-market housing can include affordable housing, social housing, and supportive care housing.

 Why are we talking about this for Calgary?

As a non-market housing provider, through our 8 supportive housing buildings, this topic is particularly important to Alpha House; housing not owned by private entities and specifically catered to low-income populations are often the only way in which our clients are able to transition from homelessness. This is because their circumstances, physical or mental health make market housing unattainable. Currently, only 3.5% of Calgary’s (and Canada’s) housing stock is non-market rentals, almost half of what it was in the 1990s at 6%, and much lower than other countries like the UK, France, and Austria, countries with non-market housing supply ranging from 16%-23%. [1]

By looking at data from the City of Calgary’s Housing Needs Assessment 2023, we can see how drastically both the rental and home ownership rates in the private market have changed in such a short time. Between 2020 and 2023, the average rate of rent increase is approximately 40% or $596. For home prices during the same time period, an increase of 37% was found; a house that was $470,000 jumped up to a price of $645,000. [2] With these drastic increases in home and rental prices, housing affordability is becoming further out of reach for many Calgarians— with one in five households classified as being unable to afford their housing. As the complexity of Calgary’s population increases, we require more non-market housing to provide options for the spectrum of needs in the city.

What piece of the housing puzzle does Non-Market Housing control?

Non-Market Housing is about ensuring housing options exist; it provides opportunity for people to maintain stability in their lives through their housing while navigating life circumstances that temporarily (or permanently) impact their financial well-being. For many, this is a result of the price of housing increasing faster than wages. For others, the need for affordable non-market housing is sudden and unexpected, resulting from losing a job, the death of a loved one, or an accident resulting in a disability (to name a few). Access to non-market housing programs serve as investment into homelessness prevention because non-market housing provides significant relief on social services and taxpayer dollars by keeping people housed and therefore less reliant on expensive social assistance programs. The City of Calgary found that keeping one vulnerable individual off the street saves taxpayers $34,000 annually by reducing unnecessary use of emergency and social services, hospitals, and correctional facilities. [3]

What is zoning?
Definition

Zoning determines the shape and size of a building and the uses allowed on a piece of property through land use designations — in short, zoning controls who gets to live where.

Why are we talking about this for Calgary?

In Calgary, many communities are zoned primarily for single-family homes and limit, or simply do not allow for, the development of diverse housing options like row houses and apartment buildings. Fifty-five percent of Calgary’s housing is made up of single-detached homes, and 87% of low-density residential properties only allow single or semi-detached homes.[4] [5] The City of Calgary’s 2023 Housing Needs Assessment states that a household income of $156,000 is needed to adequately afford the median cost of a detached home, and Statistics Canada found that only 19.2% of Calgary’s households earn $150,000 or more, meaning that housing is unaffordable to a large part of Calgary’s population. ² [6]

Calgary’s recent zoning changes sought to reduce urban sprawl and create more options for Calgarians at different income levels by amending existing land-use bylaws, allowing for more variety in housing, like duplexes, rowhouses, and secondary suites in all communities across the city. This is particularly important in neighbourhoods that have traditionally only allowed single detached family homes because they don’t require significant additional infrastructure development when new housing is introduced.

What piece of the housing puzzle does zoning control?

Zoning has the power to create opportunity in all neighbourhoods for diverse mixtures of demographics, income levels, and circumstances, improving choice for everyone. For example, by providing more options for people currently living in rentals to purchase a home, those rentals are put back into the market, giving prospective renters more options in choosing their living space. For the homeless population, appropriate zoning across the city can create new bridges to housing by allowing for more non-market (supportive, subsidized, or affordable) housing options. Diverse types of housing provide more inclusive housing options for all income brackets. Read more about the zoning conversation here.

What is Supportive Housing?
Definition

Supportive Housing is a type of housing that includes on-site/off-site supports to help individuals maintain independent living. Supports can differ depending on the population being served, but subsidized units, food supports, tenant programming, medical interventions, or assistance with day-to-day tasks is commonplace in a wide range of supportive housing programs. Here are a few different types of supportive housing:

Place Based Supportive Housing

Place Based Supportive Housing (PBSH), sometimes known as Permanent-Supportive Housing, are long-term care programs best suited for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness and/or other complex needs like mental and physical disabilities, and substance use. This type of housing has supports available on-site 24/7 and there is no expectation that individuals will graduate or transition away from their placement.

Transitional Housing

Transitional housing provides temporary living arrangements, anywhere from 3 months to 3 years, for those experiencing homelessness. This is a steppingstone towards independent housing while individuals address challenges like securing long-term housing or finding stable employment. Transitional housing programs are a bridge from homelessness to stable housing, and have on-site supports including case management, employment/life skills training, and access to other organizations through referrals. The main difference between transitional housing and traditional supportive housing is that transitional housing residents are expected to “graduate” the program and move onto independent living.

Scattered Site Housing

Scattered site is a housing model where individuals live in market rentals throughout the community. Scattered site units are typically subsidized and have off-site case management supports available to help individuals move towards fully independent living and stable, long-term housing.

Rapid Re-Housing

Rapid Re-Housing Programs are intended for individuals who are low to mid-acuity meaning, in this context, they do not require long-term intensive case management to remain housed. Rapid Re-Housing programs aim to provide short-term rental assistance and support services to help individuals live independently.

Senior Housing

Senior housing offers accommodation for older residents (usually 65+) and can look different depending on what supports an individual needs to remain stably housed. This can include independent living, assisted living, and supportive housing.

What piece of the housing puzzle does supportive housing address?

Supportive housing offers individuals in need of specific supports an avenue to stable housing, reducing overreliance on interventions with healthcare, criminal justice, and law enforcement systems. Families, youth, women, individuals with substance use disorders, or those with physical and/or mental disabilities are just a few examples of different populations who benefit from supportive housing.

Having enough supportive housing in our city is critical to addressing housing insecurity, inadequate housing supports, and homelessness because there are many people, like seniors or individuals with physical disabilities, for example, who cannot live independently, but could maintain stable housing with the right supports in place, improving their wellbeing and supporting more efficient use of taxpayer dollars.

What is Gentrification?
Definition

Gentrification refers to the process in which a low to mid-income area has an influx of wealthier residents and businesses whose presence can result in the displacement of the original residents/businesses. A main concern with gentrification is that new businesses and housing developments increase the value of the area such that existing residents and local businesses are priced out of their own neighbourhood.

Key signs of gentrification include increased investment in historically disinvested areas without supports for those currently living there, increased property values and rental prices with no supports to prevent eviction, and a shift in the demographics of the neighbourhood, ethnicity and class in particular.

Relation to Calgary/ Canada:

For an example of gentrification in Canada, we can look at Gastown in the downtown eastside of Vancouver. Previously a space consisting of old warehouses and factories, it was redeveloped into lofts and restaurants. From one perspective, the gentrification of this area has turned it into a vibrant spot for people to gather. From another, the increase in desirability of the neighbourhood increases the price of rent, often resulting in the displacement of low-income populations.[7] The median household income almost doubled between 2005-2015 in this area and the neighbouring Chinatown. [8] Without measures in place to support appropriate relocation or prevent inappropriate evictions, gentrification can create huge variations in a city’s communities leading to pockets of poverty-stricken areas and inaccessible wealthy ones.

What piece of the housing puzzle does gentrification control?

Affordable units are more likely to be found in older buildings and investment for new buildings or improved units start to slowly remove affordable options for low-income residents. Without programs and policies in place to ensure an adequate amount of affordable housing options are available when redeveloping a neighbourhood, lower income individuals have no choice but to relocate. With low vacancy rates, it can be difficult to relocate and find an affordable home within a reasonable distance to work, school, and other programs and services that were more accessible in their previous housing situation.

 

Need to Know

We’ve covered non-market housing, zoning, gentrification, and the spectrum of housing options that need to be available to meet the needs of our population— but we’re just getting started! It often feels like the housing crisis conversation gets boiled down to “build more housing” and, while that’s true on the surface, there are many pieces that need to come together to create true availability in housing supply so that safe and affordable housing is a reality for all. And we’re going to be covering a ton of those topics so check out the rest of the content on our Vote Housing page (https://alphahousecalgary.com/votehousing ), because we have a lot of great information and commentary about housing in Calgary.

 

[1] https://nhc-cnl.ca/news/post/new-report-from-the-national-housing-council-calls-for-canada-to-double-its-non-market-housing-

[2] https://www.calgary.ca/communities/housing-in-calgary/housing-needs-assessment.html

[3] https://www.calgary.ca/communities/housing-in-calgary/affordable-housing-about.html

[4] https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/fogs-spg/alternative.cfm?topic=3&lang=e&dguid=2021A00054806016&objectId=12a

[5] https://www.calgary.ca/planning/projects/rezoning-for-housing/rezoning-resources.html

[6] https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/fogs-spg/page.cfm?lang=E&topic=5&dguid=2021S0503825

[7] https://pinskymortgages.ca/a-history-of-gastown-then-and-now/

[8] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/gastown-chinatown-incomes-almost-doubled-over-10-years-1.4291724