Housing Affordability: Learning with the Ottawa Community Land Trust

Community Planning: Creating a more resilient and sustainable future, today

Regional discussion series – connecting people, sharing knowledge, and nurturing collaborative projects

PART 2, Social Finance – Closing the Gap on Housing Affordability: What we can learn with the Ottawa Community Land Trust

Wednesday, May 31st, 4:30-6:00 PM

So, what are the financial solutions to the housing crisis? Hear how the Ottawa Community Land Trust (OCLT) is helping to mobilize community wealth to support affordability for all; how we can move beyond housing subsidy as a solution; and how residents, municipalities and other organizations can pitch in to help.

The OCLT is a social enterprise pursuing innovative ways of preserving housing affordability in the national capital region. Their Mission is to acquire existing rental properties and turn them into non-profit affordable housing; and to secure vacant land to develop various types of affordable housing in the future. They work with other local groups—from housing providers to developers—that are committed to keeping housing affordable – forever.

This event will explore Ontario community innovation in solving the affordable housing crisis. Learn about the genesis of the OCLT, why choose a land trust, key elements for success so far, and next steps including the development of a community bond campaign, as well as the involvement of the Ottawa Community Foundation.

What if we did this in Southern Georgian Bay?

Speakers:

Mike Bulthuis, Executive Director, Ottawa Community Land Trust

Mike Bulthuis has worked at the intersections of policy, research and community mobilization for over 20 years, joining the Ottawa Community Land Trust as Executive Director in late 2022. He has worked in policy development with the federal public service on issues including homelessness, social finance, social innovation and infrastructure. Mike has also held leadership positions in the non-profit environment, including with Ottawa’s Alliance to End Homelessness and with the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. He currently serves on the Boards of his local Community Health Centre and its provincial association, having earlier served with local and national Boards furthering social enterprises, social planning and public justice.

Satyameet Singh, Campaign Manager, Tapestry Community Capital

Satyameet supports a diverse array of organizations to market and sell community securities. He works closely with clients to develop the right investment terms and assists them with their communications and human resources plans to meet their campaign objectives. Satyameet holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and has over ten years of experience working with multiple social enterprises to test and scale business models.

Moderator: Gillian Fairley, General Manager, Community Futures South Georgian Bay

Gillian is the General Manager of Community Futures South Georgian Bay, a federally funded not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and growth of businesses in the region. She has assisted businesses in the community for over 12 years, providing mentoring, resources, and advice during all phases of start-up, development, and growth, and has participated in numerous economic development initiatives that have supported community and business growth. Gillian has extensive project management, economic development, and management consulting experience, working with organizations throughout the United States, as well as in the U.K., Germany, and Sweden. She is one of the authors of the Southern Georgian Bay Affordable Housing Toolkit

Audience: Residents, and business, nonprofit, government, and philanthropic leaders are leaning in to learn more about the housing affordability crisis, the shifting role of local government, the need for data to identify the scope of this issue, and how to access capital and develop the partnerships required to solve this problem.

We believe that a social finance ecosystem across several municipalities to support affordable housing development could accelerate access to capital and land, and help more people understand the organizations required to solve this problem. We also need the data to help all of us understand how much affordable housing we need in our communities.

Your voice is important! The Toolkit’s Call to Action is something we need to work on together. We hope that you will join this important discussion and participate in the question and answer period and on the chat. Let’s create collaborative, innovative solutions to our housing challenge!

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