Grant: College & Community Social Innovation Fund

In recent years, the tiny house movement has gained in popularity due to tiny homes’ many social and environmental benefits; their small size, lower construction cost, easy maintenance, and portability make them a viable solution for various housing issues. The City of Greater Sudbury, located in northeastern Ontario, is experiencing an affordable housing crisis that tiny homes could help alleviate by providing an alternative affordable and attainable housing option. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has determined, based on 2016 census data that 13% of Canadians are living in Core Housing Need and that 67% of this population fits the demographic of those living in tiny homes. In the City of Greater Sudbury 5,000 households are in Core Housing need and nearly 10,000 rental households are spending more than 30% of their gross household income on shelter costs. Despite the growing interest in tiny homes, there is a paucity of empirical data supporting their use as a form of housing. To address these gaps, the City of Greater Sudbury, Tiny Town Association (working to establish locations where people can live tiny) and Collège Boréal propose a collaboration that will study the benefits of the tiny home as a housing option in Northern Ontario. Over the next three years, the team will: 1) design and plan the construction of a tiny home prototype that is compliant with building codes and permits, 2) build the tiny home prototype, inspected, and approved by the City of Greater Sudbury, and 3) conduct a design evaluation of the tiny home prototype to gather real-world data on its effectiveness as a sustainable, affordable, and eco-responsible housing option.