Feb-21 Update

I have been reluctant to post updates because many projects are still in the works, but I wanted to keep everyone aware that progress is being made, on a number of fronts:

• Our partnership with Collège Boréal in Sudbury, Ontario is making progress. Robin Craig at the college has assembled a great team including the City of Sudbury Planning, Housing, and Council. This is a design, build, install, and study project on tiny home living in northern Ontario. The college has gotten behind the project in a big way, with the support of many departments. They have completed and submitted a grant application for an NSERC Social Innovation Fund project, A Comprehensive Study: Building a Modular Tiny Home Standard for an Affordable & Supportive Rapid Housing Solution.
• We have been working with a growing group in Huron County Ontario to establish a tiny home Pocket Community. This showcase affordable housing development will begin with 16 off-grid tiny homes (to be confirmed, they may be grid-connected) in a small community. At present we are planning that each home will be on a 1/4 acre site. We have been working with Huron County Planning, Housing, Social Services, and Economic Development, along with CMHC.
• Kaitlyn Adam has joined our Advisory Board and is working to submit an FCM (Federation of Canadian Municipalities) Green Municipal Fund - Planning: Early support grant for sustainable affordable housing projects for our off-grid tiny home communities.
• Aldo Ruberto, a councilor in Thunder Bay, Ontario has been spearheading a project to develop a supportive tiny home community within the city. He has connected with the City of Thunder Bay Housing, Planning as well as a number of commercial businesses to launch the project.
  
• I was speaking with Steve Janssens at St Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario about the possibility of putting together a small tiny home community project on college property, as another design, build, install, and study project. The homes would be used for graduate student housing, and be connected to full diagnostics providing operating data as well as an opportunity to look at the social effects of tiny home community living.
• Akshthal Kalia who joined the Association late last year has taken on the project of planning our upcoming social media program. As we work to establish more tiny home communities, we will want to keep everyone informed, so when a development is moving forward, those interested in a site will know how to apply. These demonstration communities will begin small and may have under 2-dozen sites available during the launch phase. We are planning to keep the public updated on our progress through our social feeds first. We will be launching a series of surveys on the Association's website that will help us in planning the order that these communities are built. 
  
• Our partnership with SIPSTECH in Calgary, Alberta is developing at an accelerated rate. They are interested in supplying tiny homes that will be available to rent in our communities. This is an exciting step in our providing affordable rental housing and we are looking into the possibility of offering a limited number of rent2own homes as well. There may be an opportunity for private, corporate, or institutional investment in this program, so if you are interested in discussing it in the early stages, reach out to me.

If you aren't a member of the Association, you may want to consider joining. Your membership helps support the work we are doing and keeps you informed first. We always post first in the Blog before on our social feeds. 

If you want to get your hands dirty, by volunteering in some capacity, drop us an email and let us know how you would like to help. We appreciate all the help we get, and are looking to develop new projects and partnerships, so nothing is off the table.

More exciting news to come, but that's all for now. #JOY