The Canadian Forces Housing Agency and Military Housing
The real reason why I am covering this is petty; I'll keep that to me-self.
Recently, the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on National Defence completed a study on service members’ access to housing and healthcare. These are critical areas of discussion not only for military members and their families’ well-being, but also for retention. So today, we’re going to look at one tiny piece of that housing puzzle: the Canadian Forces Housing Agency.
As usual, little disclaimer (would it be a CDL substackie if it did not have one?): the purpose here is not to write any analysis, but rather to describe how the agency works and how it includes itself in the military housing ecosystem. By military housing here, I am talking about the real estate portfolio that the Department possesses that is used to house service members and their families. Most service members, however, live in civilian housing ( i.e., rent or own housing that are not owned by the government, like the rest of us). So if we are discussing housing for CAF members and their families, military housing is a partial piece of the puzzle. I will include sources all the documents I read, and it is just the beginning of my little study on the current state of military housing. After all, the original point of this substack is to understand how DND/CAF work. I am working on going back to this genesis here.
Any snark and CDL-2-cents-nobody-asked-for™️ will be italicized for clarity.
CFHA, Késako?
The Canadian Forces Housing Agency (CFHA) is a “Special Operating Agency” that was created in 1996. A special operating agency is an organization within a government department that has its own management structure – it acts independently and functions under separate accountability mechanism, although it is considered as part of the department to which they are attached. The relevant minister and deputy minister, as well as the Treasury Board determine the structure under which these agencies operate. No legislation is required, a special operating agency exists within the legal framework a department operates. An agency has a defined mandate and offers specific services. A special operating agency, in return, has to meet certain expectations in terms of performance.
Therefore, the CFHA is an entity that operates outside of the normal Department of National Defence structure, but remains a part of it. The CFHA describes its mandate as providing “residential accommodation solutions for Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and their families;” the Office of the Auditor General defines it further as “ensur[ing] military housing units are maintained to a suitable standard, and develops and implements plans to meet the future housing needs of the Canadian Armed Forces.”
The CFHA runs the “Military Housing Program,” which is meant to “ensure suitable residential rental housing is available to CAF members when and where duty demands.” At the end of fiscal year 2021-22, the CFHA was responsible for 11,654 residential housing units across 27 bases and wings. As of fiscal year 2021-22, 15 per cent of service members were living in military housing.
There also seems to be two types of military housing: family housing (also referred to as married quarters) and single quarters. Now, there is no description of what married quarters look like, but there are over 9 types of single quarters:
A little history
Before October 1995, it was the CAF’s individual bases and wings that were responsible for managing housing for their members. However, military housing across the country was in poor condition. The CFHA was stood up as a “provisional special operating agency” that would be able to bring in rental revenue. When the Agency was stood up, it was responsible for 21,200 units, most of which had been built between 1948 and 1960.1
Between 1998 and 2004, military housing received $400 million worth of investment from the Department to maintain and improve the units. After arguing it was not enough money and it did not have enough time to effectively modernize the whole portfolio, the CFHA became a “permanent special operating agency.” Additionally, the number of units the Agency was responsible for went down to 12,500 units (from 16,000 at the time).
Before I go a little further…
Nothing is simple within the Department of National Defence – in case any of you had not noticed. The CFHA does not have the sole responsibility for housing – which makes any attempts at trying to tackle the problem of military housing extremely complex.
Within the Department of National Defence, there are three additional levels of authority for housing (foreshadowing: this sentence has this specific structure for a reason):
Chief Military Personnel/ Military Personnel Command is responsible for the Department’s “military housing policy and standards.”
Senior commanders “define operational requirements and provide advice”
Assistant Deputy Minister (Infrastructure & Environment) “oversees military housing, provides guidance and technical oversight on the management of the housing portfolio, and oversees the Canadian Forces Housing Agency.”
Let’s add layers to this mille-feuille
The foreshadowing did not last long. The establishment of the CFHA as a permanent special operating entity was not without condition. In fact, the agency had to follow government policy on Crown-owned housing.
Policy on crown-owned housing goes as follows:
Crown-owned housing can only be provided if the housing supports operational requirements or when appropriate housing is not available in the private market.
When there is no longer a need for housing, any surplus has to be removed from the portfolio (which clearly explains the reduction of the portfolio of military housing from 16,000 to 12,500 since 2004).
Crown-owned housing has to be similar in condition, style, and costs as private market housing, and cannot me more affordable than privately owned housing.
Appendix 4.1 in the Queen’s Regulations and Orders2 (“Regulations respecting charges for family housing provided by the Department of National Defence”) gives us a little more insights on how costs of housing are determine:
The “base shelter value” of military “family housing” is based on market assessment set by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Military family housing is subject to provincial and territorial rent control laws.
The Minister of National Defence has the authority to change base shelter value, and indeed reduce it if there are maintenance issues that are not solved within 30 days, to incentivize occupancy, or if there is a “loss of privacy and quiet enjoyment”
The monthly shelter charge (which does not include utilities and parking costs) cannot exceed 25 per cent of the family’s "gross annual income.”
Regulations within this appendix ought to be applied following Treasury Board policy. The appendix mentions Chapter 128, “Living Accommodation Charges,” in the Administrative Policy Manual, as its guiding regulation.
Further, QR&Os Volume 1, Chapter 28, titled “Allotment and Occupation of Quarters” outlines regulations around occupancy of quarters, such as
who can occupy “official quarters,”
who is entitled to family housing or to single quarter
how a civilian can occupy family housing or single quarters
State of the portfolio
Before closing this little chapter on the CFHA, let us have a look at the current state of affairs. The CFHA’s most recent annual report, which covers the 2021-22 fiscal year, qualified 2,148 residential housing units as being ‘below average’ condition (from 1,957 in fiscal year 2020-21). The agency explains that the pandemic – which limited proper inspection and maintenance work, and caused supply chain disruption and limited labour available – is at the heart of this deterioration. Investments and improvement projects were pursued, with $125 million invested and 3,817 projects completed.
The latest data on military housing comes from the Department of National Defence’s 2022-23 Departmental results report. That fiscal year, 92% of “single quarter accommodations” were available for use. Unfortunately, the data does not go beyond this. It does not explain (1) how many single quarter accommodations the Department/ the CFHA possesses in contrast to family quarter accommodations; (2) how many of these accommodations were actually used.
That’s it, folks!
I hope this helped clarify what the Canadian Forces Housing Agency is, and that this lays the ground a little bit for a broader conversation on military housing (yes, this is foreshadowing). In the meantime, I welcome thoughts, comments, concerns. Let me know what I missed and feel free to share your experiences.
Sources
Overview of federal organizations and interests: https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/reporting-government-spending/inventory-government-organizations/overview-institutional-forms-definitions.html
Treasury Board’s Directive on the Management of Real Property, https://www.tbs-sct.canada.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=32691
Queen’s Regulations and Orders, Volume IV – Appendix 4.1. Charges for Family Housing Regulations: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/policies-standards/queens-regulations-orders/vol-4-appendices/appendix-4-1.html
Queen’s Regulations and Orders, Volume I, Chapter 28, Allotment and Occupation of Quarters, https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/policies-standards/queens-regulations-orders/vol-1-administration/ch-28-allotment-occupation-quarters.html
2015 Fall Report of the Auditor General of Canada; Report 5 – Canadian Armed Forces Housing, https://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_oag_201602_05_e_41062.html
Assistant Deputy Minister (Review Services), Evaluation of Military Housing, August 2021: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/audit-evaluation/eval-military-housing.html
Canadian Forces Housing Agency Annual Report 2021-22, https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/cfha-annual-report-2022.html
DND/ CAF Departmental Results Report, 2022-23, https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/departmental-results-report/2022-23-index.html
I think that this early Cold War era is a fascinating one in Canadian military history. From my casuals conversations about it with Dr. Allan English, I gather that was an era of tremendous growth for the military, including on the human resources front. Another topic of inquiry to put on the research pile.
I am still using QR&Os (and not KR&Os) as it seems the official change has not been made yet.