If 2020 taught us anything, it is the importance of having a safe home.

We at St. Francis Xavier University’s Extension Department (Extension), in partnership with the Community Housing Transformation Centre (the Centre), are pleased to announce the launch of Build Together: Strengthening the Community Housing Sector in Nova Scotia.

Through this project, we aim to engage members of the community housing sector in a process aimed at supporting and strengthening the sector in Nova Scotia by sharing successes, recognizing strengths and challenges, identifying areas for capacity enhancement, and developing ways of working together for greater collective impact.

“Together we have an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the community housing sector in Nova Scotia, which plays a huge role in ensuring people living on low income in our province have adequate housing.”

Pauline MacIntosh

Program Staff, Extension

To launch the engagement process, we are asking people working and volunteering in non-profit and co-operative housing groups across the province to complete a survey. Those who participate will be able to enter their name in a draw to win one of two $250 donations to a community housing group of their choice.

We are also organizing engagement sessions for non-profit and co-operative housing groups in Nova Scotia, including sessions for groups focused on housing for Indigenous peoples, persons of African descent, the LGBTQQIP2SAA community, and others.

Based on the findings of the engagement process, we aim to define sector priorities and determine a sustainable model for moving forward in tandem.

“Our goal is that the engagement process will lead to a better supported, connected, and more unified community housing sector in Nova Scotia.” 

Pauline MacIntosh

Program Staff, Extension

About StFX Extension

St. Francis Xavier University, located in Antigonish, NS, is largely defined by its historic commitment to quality education and citizen engagement. StFX’s Extension Department was established in 1928 with the mandate to support the revitalization of the communities of Northeastern Nova Scotia through a people-centered approach to development, an approach that became known globally as the Antigonish Movement. Grounded in the values, vision, and principles of the Antigonish Movement and now serving a much larger geographic area, the Extension Department has endeavored over the decades to continuously re-invent itself in the design and implementation of innovative programs that strengthen community capacity to address key issues of the day.

About the Community Housing Transformation Centre 

The Community Housing Transformation Centre (the Centre) is a pan-Canadian non-profit organization founded in 2018. It is a sector-led organization backed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) through Canada’s National Housing Strategy.  The Centre believes everyone deserves a safe, affordable place to call home. It is working toward a more entrepreneurial and economically viable model of community housing—one that will serve the needs of Canadian communities, now and in the future.