A new podcast is shining a spotlight on the communities often overlooked in Canada’s housing crisis. Can I Stay? Rural, Remote, and Ready to Build explores how rural, remote, and Indigenous leaders are tackling housing shortages with innovative, community-led solutions.
Produced with support from Foresight Canada and funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the series is hosted by Lindsay Blair, President of Rural Impact Canada, and Candace Larsen, Executive Director of One Bowl Housing Corporation. The hosts share their own journeys as leaders and competitors in the $300 million CMHC Housing Supply Challenge, uncovering both the systemic barriers and the grassroots breakthroughs shaping the future of housing in small communities.
Each episode features firsthand accounts from those on the front lines of the housing crisis, including Louise Fragnito (CAO, Township of Frontenac), Chelsie Parayko (Housing Manager, Missanabie Cree First Nation), and Cheryl Fort (Mayor of Hornepayne, Ontario). Together, they paint a vivid picture of how innovative financing, policy reform, and collaboration are essential to closing Canada’s housing gap.
“We strongly believe that rural, remote, and Indigenous communities are key to solving the housing crisis,” said Blair. “The question isn’t whether housing is a priority—it is. The question is how we implement proven solutions to create the environment to get more housing built. That is what we do.”
In the debut episode, Can I Stay, or Do I Need to Go?, listeners meet Stephanie Corrin, a single mother in rural Ontario, and David Flood, General Manager of Wahkohtowin Development, who share personal experiences with housing shortages and escalating rents. The second episode, Zooming Out: System-Level Challenges, examines systemic roadblocks—like “ghost land” and bureaucratic red tape—that hinder progress, featuring insights from Albalina Metatawabin of Mushkegowuk Development Corporation and Louise Fragnito.
Can I Stay? Rural, Remote, and Ready to Build is available now wherever you get your podcasts.