Introduction
The following serves as an Expression of Interest (EOI) for the Homelessness Reduction Innovation Fund (HRIF). The fund provides one-time grants for innovative projects aimed at achieving measurable reductions in homelessness.
CAEH will share learnings and successes from funded projects with other communities across the country. Funded communities must commit to sharing their learnings, outcomes, and project data with CAEH. Communities must be able and willing to share Quality By-Name Data (QBND) with CAEH monthly (at minimum).
This form will be used to assess your eligibility and project suitability for HRIF. You may be invited to complete an application based on your responses. Your responses may be shared with the National Indigenous Homelessness Council (NIHC) for review and additional support.
The last day to submit an Expression of Interest for this round is March 13, 2026 at 4:00pm ET.
The CAEH team is committed to continuously improving the accessibility of the HRIF process, materials, and selected projects, and is working closely with the NIHC on these improvements. CAEH recognizes, as a non-Indigenous organization, that we alone cannot assess the HRIF process through an Indigenous lens. CAEH is committed to equity, dignity, justice and belonging. We are dedicated to serving equity-seeking communities as anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and inclusive allies. We encourage applicants to consider how they might respectfully collaborate with and build on existing capacity within local Indigenous service providers and organizations.
For more information and a glossary of acronyms, please see the Frequently Asked Questions.
Applicant Eligibility
To be eligible for the Homelessness Reduction Innovation Fund (HRIF), applicants (outside Quebec1) must be:
- the Reaching Home Community Entity (CE) for
- the Designated Community (DC) stream, or
- the Indigenous Homelessness (IH) stream, or
- the Territorial Homelessness (TH) stream,
- or the community lead organization participating in Built for Zero – Canada (BFZ-C).
If your organization is not a Community Entity or community lead for BFZ-C in your community, please connect with one of them to collaborate on a project. They are required to serve as the lead organization for an HRIF project.
If your community has both a CE for the Designated Community stream and a community lead for BFZ-C, and these are different organizations, we encourage them to collaborate on one project, with one organization taking the lead.
If you are an Indigenous-led organization but are not your community’s Indigenous Homelessness Community Entity (IH CE), please reach out to them, or the Designated Community if no IH CE exists.
Project Eligibility
In addition to the eligibility criteria above, applicants must also be able to demonstrate:
- An improvement project aimed at reducing homelessness by increasing move-ins to housing or decreasing inflow to homelessness for the chosen target population
- Quality By-Name Data (QBND), confirmed by CAEH. See the Frequently Asked Questions for more information on QBND and confirmation processes
- QBND v 4.0 if your project’s target population is unsheltered or all homelessness
- QBND v 3.0 if your project’s target population is chronic or veteran homelessness
- Priority populations for HRIF projects are:
- Unsheltered Homelessness (strongly encouraged)
- Chronic Homelessness
- Veteran Homelessness
Note: You can choose to target any population for which you have QBND. However, HRIF projects that target the above priority populations are strongly encouraged and will be prioritized for funding.
Not eligible yet? We still want to hear from you!
The HRIF is intended to help communities make measurable progress in reducing homelessness. Communities that don’t currently meet all the eligibility criteria are still invited to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). Use the space provided in the EOI to share additional context about your efforts and plans. While eligibility is required for funding, projects that aren’t ready may receive guidance and support to strengthen future applications. Your EOI may also be shared with the NIHC for review and additional support.
Note: If you are an IH CE that does not have QBND confirmed by CAEH, but are interested in applying, please indicate this in your EOI. NIHC may follow up with you to learn more and explore how they can support your community and application.
HRIF does not fund capital projects such as buying property, constructing new buildings, or major renovations. Small capital expenses (up to $50,000 and in alignment with eligible expenses under Reaching Home Directives) may be considered, and only if they clearly support a system-level improvement that decreases inflow or increases outflow. These are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Please refer to the FAQs or Reaching Home directives for further details on in/eligible expenses.