The Vancity Impact Challenge Grant.
We’re granting $1 million to solutions that help more people access, keep, and thrive in affordable homes that are safe in a changing climate.
Deadline to apply: October 15, 2026 at 9 pm PT.
$1 million to help proven affordable housing solutions go further.
A lack of affordable housing is undermining financial resilience and economic participation, and compounding inequities in our communities.
The Vancity Impact Challenge Grant is providing $1 million to help solutions that are demonstrating impact and are ready to grow and scale.
The $1 million will be awarded across three grants:
- 1 grant of $500,000
- 1 grant of $300,000
- 1 grant of $200,000
CHALLENGE STATEMENT
We’re seeking solutions that help more people to find, keep, and thrive in affordable homes that are safe in a changing climate.
Deadline to apply: October 15, 2026 9pm PT
Four areas where your solution could make a difference.
1. Preserve affordable homes
Acquisition, renewal, and stewardship models that prioritize equity deserving communities.
2. Climate-ready retrofits without costing residents
Retrofitting existing housing to be safer and more climate resilient without passing the cost on to low-income residents.
3. Community-owned and co-operative housing
Enabling Indigenous ownership and expanding access for underserved populations.
4. Open new pathways to ownership
Removing systemic barriers, especially for Indigenous peoples and equity deserving groups.
Who can apply?
We’re looking for proven housing solutions that are ready for what’s next. Your initiative should already be designed and tested, with demonstrated results and the potential to grow or scale. Before you get started, review the application guide to check your eligibility and see what you’ll need to apply.
Key eligibility criteria
Your organization must be legally incorporated in Canada. The proposed work must take place in BC.
Your initiative should address the Challenge Statement and have demonstrated outcomes.
Your initiative should be ready to grow or scale.
How it works.
Stage 1: Express your interest
Start with a short application telling us about your solution, the challenge you’re addressing, and the impact you’ve made so far.
Applications open September 15, 2026.
We’ll review submissions and invite selected applicants to continue to the next stage.Stage 1 deadline: October 15, 2026.
Applying early will leave you more time for the detailed application in Stage 2Stage 2: Detailed application
Selected applicants will be invited to tell us more about their solution, impact, and plans to scale, along with supporting documents such as financials, forecasts, case studies, and references.
From here, applicants will be shortlisted for review by an independent jury to identify three grant recipients based on the selection criteria.
Stage 2 deadline: Oct 26, 2026 9pm PT
Stage 3: Winners notified
Grantees will be notified the first week of December 2026.
Need help getting started with your application?
Missed our info session on September 23? You can watch the recording to learn about the impact challenge: what we’re looking for, how to apply, the evaluation process and other details.
Ready to apply?
Stage 1 applicants are open until 9 pm PT on Thursday, October 15, 2026.
Have questions before you apply?
If they’re not answers in the FAQ section below, email us at impactchallenge@vancity.com.
Meet the jury.
Good ideas deserve thoughtful consideration. Our independent jury brings together experience and perspectives relevant to affordable housing, building with and for communities, creating lasting positive impact and scaling solutions sustainably. The jury will assess shortlisted applicants against the selection criteria and select three winners.
Stephen Nairne (he/him)
Managing Partner at Raven Indigenous Capital Partners
Vancouver, British Columbia
Stephen Nairne is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, a venture firm that invests exclusively in indigenous-led and owned enterprises across North America.
Prior to Raven, Stephen was Founder and Managing Partner of AHL Venture Partners, an impact-focused venture platform investing in scalable energy access, financial inclusion and food security solutions across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Stephen currently serves on the Board of the Yaq’wa Development Corporation (Haisla First Nation), and the Investment Committee of Spring Impact Capital and the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre.
Elena Yugai (she/her)
Investment Manager & Director of Advisory Services at Helder Ventures
Coquitlam, British Columbia
Elena Yugai is Executive Director of the Table of Impact Investment Practitioners (TIIP), Canada’s national association of impact fund managers, where she works to strengthen the infrastructure and policy conditions that move capital toward community outcomes.
She serves on the governance committee of the Impact Guarantee and had previously managed impact investment portfolios at Vancity Community Investment Bank and a private family firm. She was also founding board chair of the National Social Venture Fund (now Propel Impact).
Melissa Lim (she/her)
Past President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE); Co-Founder, PaRx; Clinical Assistant Professor, UBC
Vancouver, British Columbia
Dr. Melissa Lem is a Vancouver family physician, Past President of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Co-Founder of PaRx, Canada’s national nature prescription program, Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia and CBC TV Vancouver News at 6’s in-house medical columnist.
An internationally recognized leader in the field of nature and health, she has also engaged in advocacy and policy work on a broad range of other issues, from low-carbon housing and hydraulic fracturing to sustainable health care and low-carbon transportation.
She was named to Vancouver Magazine’s Power 50 List in 2025, received a 2026 Canada’s Clean50 award, and was recently honoured with the King Charles III Coronation Medal and Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General of Canada for her dedicated work to advance planetary health and nature prescribing.
Charla Huber (she/her)
Founder/Principal at Charla Huber Indigenous Communications Ltd.
Victoria, British Columbia
Charla Huber is an Indigenous Relations and Communications Consultant who helps organizations build stronger relationships through meaningful engagement and culturally informed approaches.
With a background in journalism, housing, and the non-profit sector, Charla spent nearly 20 years as a reporter and columnist, building expertise in storytelling, research, and public communication.
She has worked with Indigenous Nations, organizations, businesses, and governments across Canada and holds a Master of Arts in Professional Communication.
Charla is a product of the Sixties Scoop, her birth mother is First Nation and Inuit from Fort Chipewyan, her birth father is Potawatomi and Ojibwe from Beausoleil First Nation. Her lived experience and professional expertise inform her work, helping organizations navigate Indigenous relations with respect, understanding, and authenticity.
Opreet Kang, ICD.D (she/her)
Co-founding Partner, Core Firm; also Vancity board member and BC Hydro board director
Vancouver, British Columbia
Opreet has been a member of Vancity’s Board of Directors since 2023. In addition to her knowledge of Vancity and its commitment to affordable housing, Opreet brings more than 25 years of professional and community experience to her role on the jury.
Her professional work has focused on scaling innovative solutions that strengthen infrastructure, advance equitable economic systems, and improve access to essential services, including health care.
Opreet’s commitment to community is reflected in her extensive volunteer work and board service with the Broadbent Institute, The McCreary Centre Society, Vancouver International Bhangra Celebration Society, and Diwali Celebration Society. These experiences have reinforced her belief in inclusive, community-led approaches as essential to building a more just and sustainable future.
Irene Gannitsos (she/her)
Interim Executive Director at Vancity Community Foundation
Vancouver, British Columbia
Irene Gannitsos is the Interim Executive Director of Vancity Community Foundation (VCF), providing leadership across the Foundation’s work to mobilize capital, partnerships, and programs in support of community impact, in collaboration with Vancity.
For the past 10 years Irene has led the Vancity Affordable Community Housing Program and Accelerator Fund, which delivers catalytic capital to support the pre-construction phases of community-owned housing development and acquisition projects.
Todd Talbot (he/him)
Television Host, Builder & Sustainable Housing Advocate
Vancouver, British Columbia
Todd Talbot is a television host, performer, and real estate entrepreneur with over 35 years of experience on stage and screen. Best known for hosting the international hit Love It or List It Vancouver, he also owns and manages multiple properties, and the press often turns to him for his views on real estate trends.
A longtime builder and advocate for progressive building practices, Todd is currently filming season two of Todd Talbot Builds: After the Fire. After his family lost their cabin in the 2023 McDougall Creek Wildfire, the new season explores mass timber, volumetric modular construction, and the need for more sustainable, climate-resilient homes. Season two airs in spring 2027.
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