Attainable Homes for Calgarians
Attainable Homes Calgary is a non-profit subsidiary created and owned by the City of Calgary. Its sole focus and goal are to help Calgarians afford a home, whether that be buying or renting. Created in 2009 by a city mandate to make more non-market housing available, AHC has utilized land provided by the city to open residences all across Calgary such as:
- Martindale
- Walden
- Silverado
- Redstone
- Downtown West End
The company has added apartments for rent to the program. The recently completed 1010 Downtown West building and the soon to be finished 605 Studio West modular built residence have added over 150 rental units to the downtown area.
Home price increases in Canada
Housing has been a key issue in recent years, with many at all levels of government, from local to federal, trying to find solutions. Many major Canadian cities, such as Vancouver and Toronto, have seen steep home prices increases. The feelings around the housing market vary, yet many from the younger generations fear they will not be able to afford a home in the future.
Attainable Homes Calgary’s 605 Studio West building in the final stages of construction. It was built with each modular unit craned up into position and promotes more efficient building downtown. (Riley Desourdy, CMRU.ca)
Leading the program forward with an attainable goal
Jaydan Tait, President and CEO of Attainable Homes Calgary, says the overall dream of the company is to ensure “every Calgarian has a safe, affordable, dignified place to live”. Tait, who received his Master of Planning from University of Calgary, and has a background in urban planning, says the three key components to affordable housing are land, money, and certainty.
Most recently AHC has begun steps to approve permits for a new development in Sunnyside, which will add another 198 affordable homes to their program.
Visit attainyourhome.com for more information about the program.
My personal reflection
The work and cooperation I received has been valuable to me. Learning about housing and hearing the hard work done by many individuals and organizations to help people find housing inspires me. The project itself was an undertaking, starting with reaching out and receiving support and guidance from AHC, even though they have more than enough on their plate. They were generous with their time and availability, graceful in their communication, and it was a pleasure working with them. I hope to one day be able to work with them again. I had a very good time using a new camera we access as third-year students, the Canon C100. It was very fun toying around with such a sophisticated piece of tech, as well as getting more photography practice with my Sony Alpha IV camera. My only hope is that AHC will benefit from my work, and that they continue to do the most noble job of providing Calgarians homes. It should also be worth mentioning that I was quite pleased to hear that all levels of government and industry have joined efforts to work towards providing affordable housing, from the Calgary City Council to the provincial funding apparatus. So much work is being done to innovate, especially taking into account the modular building, which is quite efficient. All in all, I’m very thankful for this opportunity, and thank you for reading this reflection.
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