ABOUT CHA
The Collaborative Housing Alliance (CHA) is a social impact real estate investment trust committed to delivering transformative, scalable, multi-generational, and sustainable affordable housing solutions across Manitoba.
Our purpose is to unite the strengths of private, public, and community partners—leveraging their people, skills, and capital—to build and revitalize multi-family housing and provide affordable and non-market rental options for Manitobans in need.
Structured as a Real Estate Investment Trust, CHA is governed by trustees with deep expertise in housing, finance, and community development. United by a shared commitment, they envision a Manitoba where everyone has access to safe, affordable housing.
CHA’s mandate includes acquiring and renovating underperforming properties, converting them into affordable rental housing, and partnering with non-profit organizations to co-develop new projects that meet the evolving needs of our communities.
Through collaboration, we aim to strengthen the housing continuum by supporting community-based organizations in their mission to provide safe, affordable and sustainable housing.
THE COLLABORATIVE HOUSING ALLIANCE MODEL
The Collaborative Housing Alliance is a Social Real Estate Investment Trust (Social REIT), a specialized form of REIT that invests in properties delivering both financial and social returns. Like traditional REITs, it pools capital from investors to own, operate, or finance income-generating real estate. However, its mission extends beyond profit, focusing on community challenges such as affordable housing.
Structured with a clear social-impact mandate, the Collaborative Housing Alliance REIT aims to deliver a transformative, scalable, and sustainable affordable housing platform in Manitoba, prioritizing affordable and non-market rents.
By design, private and philanthropic investors accept low or no financial returns in support of CHAR’s mission to provide housing that meets the needs of Manitobans facing affordability barriers.
FOR-JUST-ENOUGH-PROFIT MODEL
FJEP
The socially conscious mandate of the CHA enables the FJEP model to prioritize affordability over profit. By design, CHA reduces the pressure to generate market-level returns for investors, allowing rents to remain substantially lower. Private and foundational investors participate with a shared understanding: they accept a modest or no return on their investment in support of CHA’s mission to expand access to safe, affordable housing. Government contributions to the fund further strengthen this model, providing capital in exchange for the creation and availability of non-market housing options that serve those most in need.