Canada must look beyond its borders and learn from locally led and highly collaborative “city deal” models to address the country’s growing housing crisis.
McMaster housing expert Jim Dunn says adopting policies that have worked in the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Finland will help Canada rapidly develop more affordable housing.
“Other countries are in the same boat as we are,” says Dunn, director of the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative (CHEC) and sociology professor of health, aging and society. “To date, we haven’t done a great job of learning from other countries. We need to change that.”
Dunn is a driving force for that change and is working to establish McMaster University as a leader in housing research. He and adjunct professor Duncan Maclennan recently released a report with policy proposals for the federal government to spur housing and infrastructure development based on “city deal” models from other countries.
City Deal projects tailored to local needs
The model varies within and across countries: the U. K. provides new nationally funded resources for locally chosen projects, while the Dutch government focuses on reallocating existing resources for a more collaborative, bottom-up approach.
Dunn says Canada’s housing crisis has been exacerbated by the federal government’s decision to stop funding new public housing developments in the 1990s. Given the current fragmented approach to housing in this country, he says the flexible city deal model would allow different communities to develop frameworks tailored to local needs.
“We need to figure out how to make the non-profit housing sector more investable,” says Dunn. “There’s good investment opportunities that will deliver a modest return while also having a social impact.”
The urgent need for affordable housing isn’t a uniquely Canadian problem. The United Nations estimates that 2.8 billion people on this planet – about 40 per cent of the global population – are living without adequate housing, land security, and basic water and sanitation.
On top of that, the UN now estimates that cities are home to almost half of humanity and further growth is anticipated in urban centres by 2050.
Hamilton is a living lab for housing solutions
Dunn has been helping Hamilton, home to McMaster University, prepare for that growth. He won an award for his role in the creation of a roadmap for the city of Hamilton to guide its affordable housing strategy.
“The roadmap project is a good example of how universities can work with municipalities to get housing built,” explains Dunn. “We advise them on data trends, respond to urgent needs and help the city reform its system. That’s what is required in this moment.”
In Hamilton, a version of the city deal model is already spurring development. An organization called Hamilton Is Home has brought nonprofits together to work in coordination with one another based on what they can bring to the table. If one organization has land and another has money to invest, the two may become partners to get a development built.
“It’s quite a unique model among Canadian municipalities and it makes Hamilton really stand out,” says Dunn.
Housing solutions for an aging population
Hamilton has also been the site for Dunn’s research on how older adults are navigating the housing crisis. Zoé El Helou, a graduate student working under Dunn’s supervision in McMaster’s Public Health program, is researching how financing and public policy can support older adults moving from car-dependent suburbs to age-friendly housing while maintaining community connections.
Her research is partially inspired by her own experience growing up in Lucerne, Switzerland and moving to Hamilton with her family at the age of ten.
“My brother and I always love to talk about how we were able to have such an independent childhood in Lucerne because it was such a walkable city,” says El Helou. “I think that perspective has made me passionate about how the built environment affects health outcomes.”
Like Dunn, El Helou looked internationally for models of accessible housing and realized how many gaps there were in Ontario for older adults.
“We’re seeing a lot more adults living with their now-aging parents, and there’s no funding in place to support them as they get older. They often have nowhere to go at all,” she says. “The money that does exist is usually never enough to support their complex needs.”
El Helou and her brother, who is completing his own master’s in design studies and urban planning at Harvard University, have talked about combining their passions by working with Dunn to replicate a model of supportive housing for people with developmental disabilities that’s been successful in Surrey, British Columbia.
“When I was halfway through my undergrad, I started working with someone with very high complex special needs and it was very meaningful work,” says El Helou. “Getting that opportunity to advocate for him and his family made me want to build a career out of doing that kind of work, and I’d love to be able to do that here in Hamilton.”
Dunn says the 71-unit inclusive apartment complex in Surrey could be a learning opportunity for similar developments in Ontario, where the need for supportive housing has become critical.
“The Surrey residents are incredibly fierce housing advocates for themselves. They’ve delegated at city council, they run their own fundraising events for community initiatives that aren’t necessarily related to them, and the building itself is incredibly inclusive. They have a second building under construction. It’s quite an inspiration to see how they’ve made it work, so our budding initiative is to try and see if we can take some of the lessons from B.C. and apply them here in the Greater Hamilton area.”
Seeing how other jurisdictions have accelerated housing development – especially in the non-profit sector – is a major focus for CHEC and other programs at McMaster.
One of those programs is the new Master of Public Policy in Housing Policy, which was launched in May 2025 and aims to train the next generation of housing leaders in Canada. Dunn says interest in the program has exceeded his expectations, and he hopes the momentum continues with new partnerships within and beyond the walls of the university.
“McMaster has an opportunity to really establish itself as a leader in housing research because this is a problem that isn’t going to be fixed easily. I’ve spoken with people in other faculties who are interested in reshaping their research programs to advance the cause of affordable housing, so I think we’re on track to do great things here.”