Canadian Heritage Gallery
Canadian Enterprises Gallery

CMHC Web Site
Profile
Image One
Image Two
Image Three
Image Four

Canada is a country almost in spite of itself, and in our efforts to house ourselves, we have built a country, home by home. For more than 50 years, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has been "helping to house Canadians" from sea to sea to sea. As Marc Denhez says in The Canadian Home, "The buildings of Europe are the projections of circumstance, but the buildings of Canada are the defiance of circumstance."

In 1946, shortly after World War II, CMHC (first known as Central Mortgage and Housing) was created at a time when Canada faced a massive housing shortage. The immediate challenge was to find housing for the thousands of returning veterans. In the process, CMHC helped create entire cities, such as Ajax, Ontario and Gander, Newfoundland. Thousands of storey-and-a-half houses across Canada were built by CMHC in the years following the war, bringing about new neighbourhoods, towns and cities. In the absence of a co-ordinated building industry, CMHC stepped in to deal with every aspect of housing servicing land, building and selling housing and arranging mortgage financing.

Before CMHC and its planners became involved, cities had grown with little forethought as to where things should be built and what kind of services would be needed. CMHC, through its housing designs and neighbourhood plans, began the first efforts towards the co-ordinated growth of Canadian cities, with housing mixes suitable for a variety of residents, from singles to families and seniors. It was CMHC s influence that led in the development of the first schools of urban planning in Canada.

Even the actual lay-out of neighbourhoods was affected by CMHC: the curved streets, courts and crescents so much a part of the Canadian city s landscape owes much to Dave Mansur, CMHC s first president, and CMHC s planners of the day, who worked to find ways to slow down traffic in residential areas. That rationale is still used in developing new neighbourhoods today.

In the 1950s, when other lenders assumed financing as a private business, CMHC turned to mortgage loan insurance, which guarantees the lender will be re-paid if the homeowner fails to keep up the payments. That assurance has helped keep mortgage rates down and housing affordability up. It also meant that mortgage money was available not just to Canadians in larger cities, but in remote and rural areas of the country.

Over its 50 years, CMHC has been heavily involved in research. At first, it focussed its efforts on the technical issues, helping the construction industry solve problems dealing with foundations, drywall, roofing and other construction components. "CMHC approved" is the assurance of quality.

Even before environmental concerns became a public issue, CMHC was already investigating questions of harmful environmental hazards connected with housing construction. "Healthy Housing" tackles the problems of the environment, providing not only for the health of the family living in the house, but also for the outside environment, through better choices of materials and energy sources, including water and energy conservation, better ventilation systems, light and noise control.

Furthermore, booklets, information packages and videos detailing everything from basement mould to roofing, from wood stove heating and low-flush toilets to heat recovery ventilators and vapour diffusion sealers, are available through CMHC, which has the largest housing resource centre in the country.

The Canadian housing industry is recognized world-wide for its excellence in design, construction and energy-efficiency. That excellence is making inroads in the export market as well, as Canadians begin to travel to other countries to share our expertise.

As CMHC has proven over the years, it is up for the challenge of "helping to house Canadians."