- The Housing Commons Research Centre (HCRC) is an online community housed at the University of Toronto, dedicated to community-led housing research, advocacy, and knowledge-sharing. We connect researchers, organizers, and practitioners working across Canada and internationally to strengthen non-speculative housing models grounded in justice, care, and collective ownership.
- Community-led housing includes diverse not-for-profit models like housing co-operatives, community land trusts, co-housing, eco-villages, and encampment-based organizing. These approaches are rooted in collective ownership, long-term affordability, and community self-determination, offering alternatives to speculative and profit-driven development.
- Our platform is open to anyone interested in community-led housing, including students, academics, organizers, policy-makers, and grassroots groups. Whether you’re researching housing policy or building a land trust in your community, HCRC is here to support your work.
- We’re building a searchable, living archive that includes research papers, self-published tools, legal templates, case studies, and strategy guides. We support real-world action and academic inquiry. Contributors can submit research via our online form.
- You can:
– Subscribe to our mailing list for updates and events
– Attend public webinars and student-led learning sessions
– Contribute case studies or research
– Submit a proposal for collaboration
– Join our upcoming student-community matchmaking portal - We host public webinars, deep-dive learning labs, student roundtables, and workshops with Network Partners. Events connect theory with grassroots practice and help foster a shared learning community.
- HCRC is a project within the New Housing Alternatives (NHA) partnership, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). While HCRC focuses on community-led housing, it also supports work across other NHA clusters, including housing precarity, decommodification of land, and redesign of supportive housing.
- We welcome partnerships with community organizations, researchers, and students. If you have a project idea or research question, please contact us or email us.
- Yes. All public events and most resources will be freely accessible to support equitable knowledge sharing. Some invitation-only workshops may be geared toward partner organizations or student fellows.
- Your information on our website is protected through secure handling practices, including limited data collection, the use of hashed emails for third-party services, and optional cookies for convenience, while giving you control over your data and how it is stored or shared. See our Privacy Policy.
