Abstract

HOW CMHC DEVELOPS AND APPLIES HOUSING INDICATORS TO INFORM DECISION-MAKERS

John Engeland

CMHC is a strong practitioner in the development and application of indicators and data to help inform housing policy, and guide housing programs work and budget allocation in Canada. This presentation describes how CMHC establishes and strategically employs baseline housing conditions and needs data to directly inform housing policy and programs work. It dwells on how success can only be achieved through simultaneously:

• defining, obtaining stakeholder support of, and applying clear and objective indicators;
• sponsoring and developing the data required by the indicators; and
• providing stakeholders with analyses of the data as well as means to directly access and analyse the baseline data themselves.

Part of the presentation focuses on the importance assigned to effectively disseminating and supporting CMHC's baseline housing conditions data for policy and programs work through:

• the development and release of short research highlights which quickly convey value-added analyses and commentary on housing conditions to inform housing policy-makers and guide them in the use of CMHC's baseline data;
• the creation and provision of an electronic data base to provide policy-makers with hands-on access to CMHC's indicators and indicators data; and
• the development and maintenance of strong ties with its housing stakeholders.

A slide presentation which documents the salient characteristics of the program of research and development established by CMHC to successfully inform policy and program work is coupled with an actual demonstration of the current version of CMHC's Housing In Canada (HIC) electronic data base. The focus throughout is on the process followed by CMHC to successfully link research to policy and programs development in housing; it is NOT on housing policy itself.

Bio

Mr. Engeland is the Senior Researcher of Housing Indicators and Trends at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). As such, he is responsible for CMHC's program of work to create the housing condition indicators and data used today by Canadian governments at all levels and by agencies in the third sector to guide not only housing policy and research, but also program planning and budget allocation work. In the recent past, John also worked extensively with the National Secretariat on Homelessness to devise and promote a cost-effective and non-obtrusive means to obtain administrative data from shelters to guide homelessness policy and program work at the community level while protecting the confidentiality of the homeless. He has also worked with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities on indicators of quality of life and Environment Canada on sustainable development. John has a Master's in Economic Geography from the University of Toronto.

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