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Principle: CSI Solves

Financialization of Housing

Windows on outside of apartment

BECAUSE HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT

Housing is a home, the shelter, safety and comfort necessary for individuals and families to thrive, a human right, essential for social and economic wellbeing and one of the most powerful drivers of our economy. Currently, 1.7 million Canadians are in core housing need, and affordable housing is increasingly out of reach for many renters and first-time homebuyers. 

The “Financialization of Housing” is a complex system of government policies, financial instruments, individual and corporate behaviors. It is often associated with structural market changes whereby housing is increasingly being treated as a commodity, a means of accumulating wealth, and as securities that are traded and sold on local and global markets. We define the concept of ‘financialization’ as the growing influence of financial instruments, institutions, and investors in local housing markets.  

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  • Challenge
  • Social Ventures

CSI Institute has partnered with Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and MaRS on a social innovation lab to understand how the Financialization of Housing is impacting housing affordability in Canada, and support the goal of every Canadian having a home they can afford that meets their needs by 2030.

The partners wanted to understand how the Financialization of Housing, securitization and the associated  shifts in real estate investment practices are impacting  housing affordability.  

Part of the CSI Solves Initiative

At CSI, we use labs, social R&D and prototypes that identify new and improved models that can transform existing paradigms and reveal market opportunities. Learn more about our approach here.

Homelessness & Hygiene Lab

Pipes on a white brick wall

helping those who need it most

In the months since the COVID-19 related economic shutdown, the homeless population of Toronto has more than doubled. People are reluctant to enter shelters because it is difficult to maintain six feet of physical distance from others, and they are concerned about the probability of contracting COVID-19 in such close quarters. This has led to an increase in the number of homeless encampments across the city, encampments that do not have access to washroom facilities, laundry, or clean water.

Concurrently, the measures put in place to combat the pandemic shut down most of the public spaces that people experiencing homelessness count on to access these facilities including libraries, cafes, and community centres. The City of Toronto has identified a need to provide these citizens with the hygiene facilities required to remain clean and healthy.

  • Lab
  • Community Wealth

THE CHALLENGE

We are looking to build a socially responsible, community based solution to the issue of hygiene in homeless encampments. 

THE LAB

The City of Toronto and CSI are working together to facilitate a set of meetings between homelessness experts and social entrepreneurs. These meetings will outline the challenges associated with hygiene in homeless encampments, the intersecting issues that may arise from proposed solutions, and will allow entrepreneurs to work together to develop prototype solutions that can then be implemented and tested in the community. We anticipate three lab meetings scheduled in September and early October, with prototypes ready to be presented by the end of October 2020. 

Part of the CSI Solves Initiative

At CSI, we use labs, social R&D and prototypes that identify new and improved models that can transform existing paradigms and reveal market opportunities. Learn more about our approach here.

Every One Every Day: TO

Every One Every Day

Making our neighbourhood better, one project at a time!

The CSI Institute has teamed up with Every One. Every Day. in London, England to share the Our Neighbourhood project. 

Our Neighbourhood Workshops and Project Starter Kits help you build practical projects in your neighbourhood, like planting trees or planning a community celebration. Each kit is focussed on practical project ideas, like planting trees or planning a community celebration. These projects enable neighbours to gather and learn from each other.

Download the Our Neighbourhood Program Booklet for more information.

About Our Neighbourhood Starter Kits

There are four project starter kits that you can work on with your neighbours, while remaining at a safe physical distance, and in your own home.

These kits are perfect for a group of neighbours who want to participate in something, make social connections, and work on projects that strengthen our neighbourhood.

Each of the Our Neighbourhood Starter Kits include materials, equipment, training, support, and helpful hints and tips! Materials can include anything from soil and pots, to bee hives, to seed packets.

The starter kits are a way for you to join with a mini-neighbourhood social ecosystem to plan and execute projects that will help make our community better and stronger.

There are different-sized kits for different-sized groups of people. Each of these kits have a minimum of 3 people, and can accommodate groups of up to 15 (depending on the kit). If you want to join but don’t know other people who would like to start these projects, we can help you find more people in your neighbourhood.

Kit List

Our Neighbourhood Pollinates: build beehives and plant pollinator gardens

Our Neighbourhood Reads: children’s stories and activity programming

Our Neighbourhood Blooms: beautifying our community with bulbs and blooms

Our Neighbourhood Stories: collect and share stories of our vibrant neighbourhood

Download the Our Neighbourhood Booklet now for more information!

Making our neighbourhood better, one project at a time.

Illustration of person using a laptop

Part of the CSI Solves Initiative

The CSI Institute Create helps creates labs, Challenges, and prototypes that demonstrate new models & solutions are possible. Learn more about the approach here.