To be eligible for the Homelessness Reduction Innovation Fund (HRIF), communities (outside Quebec3) must be: 

• The Reaching Home Community Entity (CE) for the Designated Community (DC) stream, and/or  
• the Indigenous Homelessness (IH) stream, and/or  
• the Territorial Homelessness (TH) stream, and/or  
• the community lead organization participating in Built for Zero Canada (BFZ-C) 

Communities must be able to demonstrate:  

• An improvement project aimed at reducing homelessness by increasing move-ins to housing or decreasing inflow to homelessness for a target population.  
• Quality By-Name Data for their project’s targeted population(s) (confirmed by CAEH). Eligible target populations for the purposes of HRIF projects include:  

• • Chronic Homelessness (including chronic sub-populations)  
  • Veteran Homelessness  
  • Unsheltered Homelessness 
  • All Homelessness  

While applicants must meet eligibility to receive funding, projects that don’t yet qualify may receive support to strengthen future applications.   

Note: 

• CAEH will share learnings and successes from funded projects with other communities across the country. Communities with funded projects commit to sharing their learnings, outcomes, and project data with CAEH. Communities must be able and willing to share QBND with CAEH monthly (at minimum). 

If your organization is not a Community Entity or the community lead for BFZ-C in your community, please connect with one of them to collaborate on a project.  

If you are an Indigenous-led organization that is not the Indigenous Homelessness Community Entity (IH CE), please reach out to them or the Designated Community if no IH CE exists.  

If your community has both a CE for the Designated Community stream and community lead with BFZ-C, and these are not the same organization, please collaborate on one project with one organization taking the lead. 

HRIF is for innovative projects that aim to reduce homelessness by increasing outflow to housing or decreasing inflow into homelessness. Communities are encouraged to develop projects that: 

• set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound (SMART) aims 
• use data to drive project design and measure outcomes, support identification and/or solutions of system inequities,  
• follow short, iterative Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles 
• are innovative in their community or across approaches to reduce homelessness, and  
• present opportunities to share findings to accelerate reductions across the country. 

Although the above priority populations have been identified for this round of HRIF, projects may aim to reduce All Homelessness if communities are confident in their ability to achieve measurable reductions and are able to confirm Quality By-Name Data (QBND) with CAEH for All Homelessness before application submission. 

Yes, projects may target more than one population. Communities will be asked to specify the target population(s) of your improvement project as part of the Expression of Interest and be asked to choose the primary target population.

Only pick only one data point per project. If your project aims to address more than one data point through the same intervention or change, pick the data point that it primarily aims to address.  

HRIF projects that aim to reduce chronic homelessness must adopt the federal (Reaching Home) definition of chronic homelessness.   

Built for Zero Canada has aligned its veteran definition with Veteran Affairs Canada. According to Veterans Affairs Canada, a Veteran includes any former member of the Canadian Armed Forces along with former members of an Allied Forces (e.g., U.S./U.K veteran), former members of the RCMP, former Reservists, Veteran Civilians, and former Canadian Rangers. 

A Veteran experiencing homelessness includes those who do not have stable, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect, means, and ability of acquiring it (paraphrased from COH and the Government of Canada’s National Housing Strategy). 

As part of confirming Quality By-Name Data on unsheltered homelessness, communities must already have a written, shared local definition.  

Although the above priority populations have been identified for this round of HRIF, projects may aim to reduce All Homelessness if communities are confident in their ability to achieve measurable reductions and are able to confirm Quality By-Name Data (QBND) with CAEH for All Homelessness before application submission. 

By-Name Data is real-time data of all known people experiencing homelessness in a community. It includes a robust set of data points that support coordinated access, prioritization at a household level, and an understanding of homeless inflow and outflow at a systems level. This real-time actionable data supports triage to services, system performance evaluation, and advocacy (for the policies and resources necessary to end homelessness). 

By-Name Data is a subtle but important shift away from the term By-Name List – where a By-Name List was sometimes interpreted as stand-alone data. By-Name Data refers to the dynamic universe of person-specific homelessness data contained within an overall community-wide homelessness database or data system. 

Further information and resources can be found on the By-Name Data page under “Resources” on the Built for Zero Canada website at www.bfzcanada.ca. 

The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness reviews a community’s By-Name Data Scorecard and monthly data to confirm Quality By-Name Data (BND). This includes: 

• A confirmed score of 13/13 on the BND Foundations Scorecard Version 4.0, supported by: 

• • A completed BND Scorecard notes column 
  • A completed Outreach Coverage and Coordination Tool 
  • A completed System Map 
  • A review of relevant policies and documents 
  • A review of the community’s anonymized BND and demonstration of how aggregate BND points are extracted 
  • A HIFIS Health Check (if applicable) 

• At least three consecutive months of complete BND where the last 3 months are reliable within a 5% margin of error 

• Setting a baseline month from which to measure reductions  

Note: Communities that confirmed by QBND with CAEH under Scorecard Version 3.0 will continue to have their milestone recognized by CAEH to October 31, 2025. 

The By-Name Data (BND) Scorecard sets out a framework with 13 key elements for building the necessary data management and systems coordination practices to understand the movement of everyone experiencing homelessness in your community (those identified and consenting). 

The BND Scorecard is part of the Scorecards and Tools Workbook Version 4.0, released November 2024. For an overview, see the Scorecards and Tools Workbook 4.0 Launch (Recording and PDF), or review the By-Name Data Scorecard Guide.  

*Communities participating in Built for Zero Canada can access community-specific Scorecards in their Change Package. 

The Scorecard addresses the components of quality data for all homelessness generally, with additional elements related to certain populations, including Veterans and those experiencing chronic and unsheltered homelessness. 

In addition to the items noted under “How are communities confirmed for having ‘Quality’ By-Name Data”, a community must complete the Scorecard elements relevant to each population to be confirmed as having Quality BND for that population: 

 * Communities that were confirmed by CAEH for Quality By-Name Data (BND) using Scorecard Version 3.0 will continue to have their milestone recognized by CAEH to October 31, 2025. Beyond that date, communities will need to reconfirm under Version 4.0. 

If you are an IH CE that does not have QBND confirmed by CAEH but are interested in applying, please indicate that in your EOI when prompted to share more or specify. 

The intention of the HRIF is to support communities’ efforts to make measurable reductions in homelessness. Communities that have not yet been confirmed for Quality By-Name Data are still invited to complete the Expression of Interest. Where eligibility criteria are not yet met, applicants are encouraged to provide context in the Expression of Interest. While applicants must meet eligibility to receive funding, projects that don’t yet qualify may receive support to strengthen future applications. 

Communities cannot apply for additional funding to sustain an existing project. 

However, communities may apply for a new project aimed at reducing homelessness for a different target population, through improving a different inflow or outflow data point, or by scaling a project to test a new approach or change. Projects that build on previous learnings must demonstrate greater impact.  

Connect with your Improvement Advisor(s) to discuss the best way forward. 

While future rounds may allow applicants to apply more than once for separate projects, please apply for only one project at this time. Select the project that you believe will make the most impact in reducing homelessness.  

1. Expressions of Interest will first be screened to ensure all eligibility criteria are met. Projects that meet the criteria will be invited to submit an application. 
2. CAEH Improvement Advisors will work with successful EOI proponents to develop a full application. The National Indigenous Homelessness Council may also provide support. 
3. Applications will be reviewed by a committee of representatives from CAEH with support from the National Indigenous Homelessness Council and outside experts.  
4. Final approval will be made by the CAEH. 

Your community’s Improvement Advisor(s) will support you in developing and strengthening your application and may be able to provide additional context about your project but will not be part of the selection processes to ensure neutrality. 

Applying for HRIF is invitation-only at this time, based on assessment of your Expression of Interest. All those who expressed interest will be contacted advising of their status.  

Those who submitted an Expression of Interest will be notified if they’ve been invited to apply for the first round of HRIF by September 2, 2025.  

Below are some actions to support your eligibility for the next round of the HRIF: 

• Reach out to your Improvement Advisor(s) for support. If you are an IH CE, please feel free to contact the NIHC through mayanas@nihc-cnasa.ca. 
• Connect with the eligible organization(s) in your community to assess potential for collaboration 
• Confirm Quality By-Name Data with the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness for your project’s target population 
• Identify a clear aim to increase outflow to housing or reduce homelessness inflow for your project’s target population 

Our aim is to have as many projects as possible reduce homelessness across the country. Communities that are not invited to submit a full application in this round may be invited to submit a full application in subsequent rounds and offered support from CAEH to develop their improvement idea or meet eligibility requirements. 

CAEH will start the next HRIF call in early 2026, incorporating the learnings from earlier rounds of HRIF. Visit the HRIF webpage for updated information.  

You can watch the recordings of our recent information sessions, which cover frequently asked questions, how to apply, key dates, and eligibility requirements: 

• English Session: July 9, 2025 – Slides and Recording 

• French Session: July 10, 2025 – Slides and Recording 

• IH CE/Homelessness session (held July 16, 2025)

You can also reach out to your CAEH Improvement Advisor(s). All HRIF updates will be provided on the HRIF website.