Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC; , SCHL) is Canada's federal crown corporation responsible for administering the National Housing Act, with the mandate to improve housing and living conditions in the country.
Originally established after World War II to help returning war veterans find housing, it has since seen its mandate expand to the mandate of improving access to housing overall.
Overview The CMHC operates with a primary mandate of providing mortgage liquidity, assisting in establishing affordable housing development, and providing arms-length advice to the Government of Canada and the housing industry.
The crown corporation acts as Canada's national housing agency. As such, it administers federal housing programs such as the first-time home buyer loan, acts as a mortgage insurer (primarily for high-leverage loans), and provides housing research.
The agency's governance is led by an independent board of directors. However, the board is appointed by the Government of Canada and the agency is directly accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities.
CMHC is the largest crown corporation in terms of assets, with in assets as of the second quarter of 2021.
History
Wartime Housing Limited In 1941, the Government of Canada established the Wartime Housing Limited (WHL), a crown corporation that built and managed thousands of rental units for World War II workers and veterans. (Rural housing under the 1942 Veterans' Land Act remained with the Department of Veterans' Affairs.)
During that time, an Advisory Committee on Reconstruction study (aka the Curtis Report) described a tremendous need for low and moderate income shelter throughout Canada, and recommended a national, comprehensive, and planned housing program emphasizing low-rental housing.
By the end of the war, the Government of Canada attempted to anticipate post-war housing needs by revising the National Housing Act. In 1944, Finance Minister James Lorimer Ilsley introduced new legislation in Parliament "to promote the construction of new houses, the repair and modernization of existing houses, the improvements of housing and living conditions, and the expansion of employment in the post-war period." The Act received royal assent on 15 August 1944.
Evidently, rather than focus on low-income housing, the federal government instead initiated a post-war program between 1944 and 1945 that promoted home ownership and private enterprise.
1945–1949 By the end of World War II, serious housing congestion had developed in Canada's main cities due to major shifts of population among war workers and service personnel and to shortages of construction supplies and labour. The housing situation was exacerbated by the demobilization of the Armed Forces, the influx of war brides from overseas, the rapidly increasing family formation rate, and the continuing short supply of building materials and workers.
As such, there was an urgent need for a coordinated federal response to post-war housing shortages. This led to the creation of the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation as the successor to the Wartime Housing Limited, consolidating almost all federal housing programs into a single agency."Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation." Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Ottawa. 1 March 1946. Monograph. Permanent link.
In December 1945, the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation was incorporated by act of the 19th Canadian Parliament, taking effect on 1 January 1946.
Its founding purpose was to find and create housing for returning war veterans and their families, as well as to lead Canada's housing programs. In broad terms, its three primary functions were to administer the National Housing Act, 1944, "to provide facilities for the rediscounting of mortgages by the lending institutions," and to administer the Emergency Shelter Regulations (taking over this responsibility from the Wartime Prices and Trade Board).
Along with administering the National Housing Act, it was also responsible for the Home Improvement Loans Guarantee Act and providing discounting facilities for loan and mortgage companies. The capital of the CMHC was set at CA$25 million (), and a reserve fund of $5 million ($ in 2021) authorized to be accumulated from profits.
In 1946, CMHC built the Benny Farm in Montréal, Quebec, becoming one of the first subsidized housing developments in Canada."History — CMHC Milestones." Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014.
In 1947, the WHL became an arm of the CMHC, transferring its 30,000 houses (called "wartimes") to the corporation to provide affordable housing for returning veterans.
Also that year, CMHC took over the financially unsuccessful Housing Enterprises of Canada Ltd, which was formed by major Canadian insurance corporations as a limited dividend company that attempted to build and manage moderately priced rental accommodation with CMHC's approval for location, costs, and rents.
Toward the end of the 1940s, the Government of Canada created a federal-provincial public housing program for low-income families, with costs and subsidies shared 75% by the federal government and 25% by the respective province.
Ajax, Ontario In the late 1940s, CMHC transformed an abandoned munitions factory complex in Ajax, Ontario, into Canada's first fully planned, self-sustaining industrial community.
Following the beginning of WWII in 1939, the Government of Canada expropriated most of the farmland in what is now southern part of Ajax to establish the Defence Industries Limited Pickering Works munitions plant. The government-owned plant employed workers from different parts of Canada, and the site—along with the residences and the facilities established for the munitions workers—evolved into a self-contained community constructed and operated by WHL.
In 1948, the government mandated the CMHC to develop the site and its surrounding area into a modern industrial town. The CMHC manager of the area, George Finley, planned new housing subdivisions, commercial centres, and industrial areas.
CMHC's biggest challenges in establishing Ajax as a functioning municipality were reimbursing Pickering Township and Ontario County for municipal services provided to Ajax and establishing an official plan for the growing community acceptable to relevant government agencies. After considerable controversy regarding land and water control, CMHC submitted a successful application to the Ontario Municipal Board in May 1950, making Ajax an improvement district.
1950s During the 1950s, housing quality concerns were added to the task of providing for sufficient quantity of housing.
Throughout that decade, the federal government provided grants to cities to encourage them to tear down derelict buildings and build municipally owned housing corporations. Regent Park in Toronto, Ontario, was the first urban renewal project, where were cleared to build the 1056-unit, low-rent housing development in 1950. Habitations Jeanne-Mance in Montreal, Quebec, is another example. (For further examples, see List of public housing projects in Canada.)
In 1951, CMHC began implementing the first of many federal–provincial public housing projects with 140 subsidized rent-to-income units in St. John's, Newfoundland.
In 1954, the Government expanded the National Housing Act to allow chartered banks to enter the NHA lending field. CMHC introduced mortgage loan insurance, taking on mortgage risks with a 25% down payment, making home ownership more accessible to Canadians.
The banks thereafter began to issue mortgage loans with CMHC underwriting. If the individual receiving the loan went bankrupt then the bank who gave the loan would not lose money, but instead would be reimbursed by the government. As part of CMHC lending and insurance mechanisms, low-risk borrowers would have to pay insurance premiums if they wanted to borrow with small down payments.
1960s The 1960s marked CMHC's shift in focus towards municipal planning and development to help cities deal with rapid urban growth. As such, urban renewal programs to redevelop inner cities were funded throughout the decade.
During this period, for the first time in Canadian history, multi-unit apartment buildings were beginning to outpace housing starts for single-family homes. Increased Government partnership with non-profit organizations also started around this time.
In 1966, CMHC built the first cooperative housing project in Canada in Willow Park, Winnipeg.
In 1967, CMHC exported wood-frame construction abroad to construct 137 homes in Harlow, England, marking CMHC's first international project.
Also that year, CMHC funded the design and development costs of Habitat—designed by architect Moshe Safdie for Expo 67 in Montréal—which demonstrated higher-density housing and led to many advances in materials and construction.
Not all of CMHC's "community urban renewal" projects have been received positively, however. Several moves by CMHC, including the development of an overpass, in Hogan's Alley—Vancouver's only Black neighborhood—led to the displacement of Black Canadian residents by 1970 after the area was razed. Although the community was destroyed, the highway was never built after protests from neighbouring communities.National Housing Strategy. 2021 February 23. "Rebuilding Vancouver’s Black Community." National Housing Strategy. Government of Canada. Retrieved 2023 April 1.
1970s In the 1970s, affordability became a major factor in the home buying process. To help make housing more affordable, lot sizes were reduced and the density of developments were increased. As result, neighbourhood and residential improvement programs encouraged the maintenance and improvement of existing communities.
In 1971, CMHC introduced the Assisted Home Ownership Program (AHOP) to appeal to first-time buyers and help low-income people attain homeownership. Also during that decade, CMHC turned its attention to Aboriginal and rural housing, introducing the Winter Warmth Assistance Program in 1971, the first of its kind to provide funds to Indigenous People for urgent repairs to housing in rural areas.
With preservation of historic neighbourhoods and downtown living also becoming a priority, in 1973, CMHC oversaw the transformation of Vancouver's Granville Island, a run-down industrial area, into a successful culture and tourism center.
In 1974, CMHC introduced the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program (RRAP) to repair substandard homes to a minimum level of health and safety and to improve the accessibility of housing for disabled persons.
From 1977 through 1988, CMHC administered the Canadian Home Insulation Program (CHIP) to encourage energy-saving retrofits.
In 1979, the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation changed its name to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The Canadian Housing Information Centre (CHIC), Canada's largest housing library, was also established that year. 1979 also saw the Milton Park area of Montreal being converted into one of Canada's most successful non-profit low-income projects.
1980s–1990s In the 1980s, the federal government withdrew from the financing of public housing projects. CMHC no longer directed funds to municipalities for the building of housing projects. Some government housing funds and mortgage guarantees since then have been provided for individual projects.
In 1983, CMHC received the 1982 United Nations Peace Medal for promoting a better understanding among people of the Economic Commission for Europe countries as host of a study tour on housing, building, and planning.