Last fall, the Government of Canada launched the Housing Supply Challenge, inviting citizens, stakeholders, and experts
from across the country to propose solutions that remove or reduce barriers that hinder housing supply.

Today, Irek Kusmierczyk, Member of Parliament for Windsor―Tecumseh, announced $200,000 in
funding for Family Services Windsor-Essex (FSWE), who was shortlisted for Round 1 of the Housing
Supply Challenge for their project titled Maintaining Affordability through ADUs: A Tracking and
Analysis Model.

In 2018, the Province of Ontario began permitting Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs) as a way of
increasing the number of housing units within single-detached zoning districts. This change in
legislation is now altering Canada’s housing supply. Without a national mechanism to track and
analyze these units, little is known about the quantity of ADUs (existing and in construction), their
financial and market value feasibility, nor their impact on the socioeconomic makeup of a geographic
region.

With this funding from the Government of Canada, Family Services Windsor-Essex is bringing
together a team of local researchers to develop an online tool to track and analyze additional dwelling
units (ADUs) within Windsor-Essex County and beyond. The model will provide a web-based mapping
tool for users to understand the relationship to socioeconomic data within their local communities.
Led by Sarah Cipkar, a PhD student in Planning at the University of Toronto and consultant through
her company, Cipkar Development, FSWE has created a working group that includes Dr. Anneke
Smit from the University of Windsor Law School’s Centre for Cities, Dr. Hannah Moah from the Cross
Border Institute, Community Policy Solutions and several other local residents that will advise the
proof of concept. Law students from the Centre of Cities will be assisting in deepening the knowledge
on the policy, financial, and physical feasibility of these units, whereas the GIS researchers from the
Cross Border Institute will work with data to create a workable online tool.

Through her academic studies and developing her own ADU in downtown Windsor, Cipkar was
surprised to learn there was very little research on these units, nor a database to draw data from:
“How are we supposed to create informed policy solutions when we don’t have the available data to
understand the impact of these units on the housing market? As the cheapest, quickest, and easiest
form of housing to build, it was surprising to me that there is so little Canadian research on this
subject.”

The proposed tool if successful will provide state and non-state actors the ability to compare both the
information gathered alongside the social and financial indicators to make policy and development
decisions within their local communities. The Family Services Windsor-Essex team is actively seeking
partnerships with municipalities within the Windsor-Essex region to secure the data that is required to
fulfill this ambitious project. The team will also be conducting surveys to understand the region’s
perspective when it comes to developing these units.

Quotes

“A long-term plan for a faster-growing Canadian economy must include housing that is affordable for
working Canadians, especially young families. Innovative solutions like the one brought forward by
Family Services Windsor-Essex will help us understand how additional dwelling units can contribute
to creating more affordable housing in our community and across the country.”
―Irek Kusmierczyk, Member of Parliament for Windsor―Tecumseh

“As an organization, we have a strategic mandate to serve the most vulnerable in our community and
that includes housing. If we can play a role in changing the narrative on housing and increasing
supply and affordability through projects like this, we are fully on board.”
―Joyce Zuk, the Executive Director of Family Services Windsor-Essex

Quick Facts

• The Housing Supply Challenge will distribute $300 million in funding over 5 years
• The First Round of the Housing Supply Challenge is the Data Driven Round. For Stage 1 of
this Round, CMHC shortlisted 21 applicants that will each receive $200,000
• Of the 21 shortlisted applicants, selected solutions will share a pool of $22.5 million in funding
to implement their solutions
• Budget 2021 proposes to provide an additional $2.5 billion over seven years to the Canadian
Mortgage and Housing Corporation, including:
o An additional $1.5 billion for the Rapid Housing Initiative to address the urgent housing
needs of vulnerable Canadians with a minimum of 4,500 new affordable units
o $600 million over seven years to renew and expand the Affordable Housing Innovation
Fund to support the creation of over 12,700 more units