Ottawa housing nonprofits launch investment bonds to fund affordable homes

Two Ottawa nonprofits are launching Housing Forever Bonds, an innovative funding model that lets individuals, businesses, and institutions invest directly in affordable housing while earning a financial return.

Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation (CCOC), Ottawa's largest private nonprofit housing organization, and the Ottawa Community Land Trust (OCLT) are each raising approximately $1.5 million through bond sales to support housing acquisition and preservation.

Unlike donations, investors purchase bonds for a fixed term, receive annual interest payments, and have their principal repaid at maturity. Funds flow directly into strategic property acquisitions, preservation of existing affordable homes, and pre-development costs for new housing across the city.

CCOC, founded in 1974, has built and maintained housing for people with low and moderate incomes for more than 50 years. Its portfolio now includes more than 50 properties and nearly 1,700 affordable homes across Ottawa. The organization has identified an immediate opportunity: CCOC has proposed approximately 100 mixed-income affordable rental homes at the corner of Bank and Chamberlain on what is currently a municipal parking lot. To move to construction, CCOC needs $1.5 million to complete pre-development work — a step critical to unlocking federal funding through Build Canada Homes.

OCLT, founded in 2021, addresses a pressing dynamic: the loss of thousands of affordable homes every year in Ottawa to rent increases, redevelopment, renovictions, and turnovers. Statistics Canada data shows more than 30,000 affordable private rental units were lost between 2011 and 2021.

OCLT has already acquired four multi-unit apartment buildings since 2023, allowing tenants to remain and ensuring rents stay affordable in perpetuity. An offer on a rental building with more than 25 units was recently accepted; OCLT needs $1.5 million in bond proceeds to complete the acquisition. Beyond that, property owners regularly reach out to OCLT with information about affordable rental buildings that could be available for purchase.