TORONTO (T'karonto)/Traditional territories of the Anishinaabeg People, Aug. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A group of at least 11 charitable, nonprofit and cooperative housing providers across the country are using a financing tool called community bonds to raise a collective $110 million from everyday Canadians in their communities, creating or preserving more than 3,000 units of affordable housing altogether. The 11 organizations are supported by Tapestry Community Capital's Investing in Housing initiative, which is funded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)'s Housing Supply Challenge. Tapestry is a national nonprofit providing consulting and administrative services to community bond issuers. Community bonds are an investment opportunity issued by nonprofits and cooperatives and purchased by both everyday Canadians and institutional investors. Tapestry is currently working with four housing providers raising capital with a combined total goal of $9 million ($8 million raised to date) in community bonds, from the Kensington Market Community Land trust preserving affordable housing in a rapidly-gentrifying neighbourhood of Toronto, Ont. to Propolis Housing Cooperative building new net-zero, affordable homes in Kamloops, B.C.. The additional $110 million target by 11 new organizations (with more to be announced) represents an over 1,200 per cent scale-up for the community bonds model among housing providers. These campaigns are set to launch on a rolling basis until March 2025. This comes as the systematic exclusion of low- and middle-income Canadians from access to affordable housing intensifies. According to CMHC's Spring 2024 Housing Market Outlook, "growing demand for rental homes will not be met because the cost of homeownership will lead households to stay in rental housing." Meanwhile, CMHC reports, "unfavourable financing conditions are expected to make more new rental projects unfeasible in 2024." Ryan Collins-Swartz, Co-Executive Director at Tapestry, says: "Canada's housing system isn't designed to ensure that everyone has a safe, affordable place to live. But the good news is that more and more Canadians are recognizing this injustice and looking to contribute to change. Community bonds are helping them invest directly in more affordable housing for their neighbours and earn a fair return in doing so. These community investors are also offering housing providers access to affordable, predictable funding — a rarity in the sector." Organizations set to raise the collective $110 million include: Redwood Park Communities: a Barrie, Ont.-based nonprofit raising ...