Cahdco’s Foundations program has successfully completed its first in-person session with groups coming from all over Canada to meet in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Hosted in partnership with the annual CHRA congress, the in-person session was held on April 16th and 17th. This was the first time that many of our Foundations participants and mentors were able to meet in person and connect face-to-face.

Twenty-eight of the participants and mentors of the Foundations program met for a two day in-person session. Many from the group were able to attend the Canadian Museum of Human Rights Sunday morning before the session fully kicked off. The museum was a profound experience and highlighted many of the reasons that we find ourselves in the line of work to create and provide safe, affordable housing.

Connect 2 Knowledge, consultant on the Toolbox+, opened up the formal sessions with a fun ice-breaker activity getting the participants to create the tallest tower out of typical craft supplies.

The afternoon featured the introduction of GoNoGo: The Affordable Housing Development role playing game that Cahdco created for the event. The game highlighted the different topics and lessons that the Foundations sessions covered in the modules leading up to the event. The game spanned across the two days with different phases of the game being completed as time went on. Teams of 5 were asked to create a concept for one of five different sites and then develop a feasibility study for the project. The sites were based off of real affordable housing project sites either underway or complete in Winnipeg. You can find more information on each of the sites at the links below.

Each team member acted as a different member of a development team; architect, construction manager, financial officer, planner, or housing provider. The game ended with each team pitching their project for capital funding with winning teams being “awarded” their funding requests.

Graeme Hussey from Cahdco, Katy Fabris and Kaela Schramm from M’akola Development Services, and Graham Cubitt from Indwell rounded off the sessions with presentations on their organizations’ development strategies. A big thanks to our speakers who shared so much of their knowledge and experience with our program participants.

But the biggest highlight of the event was the opportunity to connect with other affordable housing developers from across Canada to share stories and experiences. Many in the group kept the discussions going over dinner and throughout the rest of the CHRA Congress.

The in-person session was a fun capstone to the first Cohort of the Foundations program. If you would like to know more about the Toolbox + you can visit our website here. Or if you would like to join future cohorts, email toolbox@cahdco.org.

 

Want to learn about the Ottawa City Budget 2025 and what it means for housing?

Check out our up coming panel discussion here!