Social Purpose Real Estate Accelerator Cohorts
The inception of the SPRE Accelerator is based on the findings of research conducted by the Infrastructure Institute team under the direction of Matti Siemiatycki, professor at the University of Toronto. The program has been developed to support non-profits that own their assets or have long- term leases to improve their own spaces in order to meet the growing needs of the communities that they serve, ie. more affordable housing, incorporating community centres & shelter expansion.
This free six-month program includes bi-weekly workshops and a mentorship component for the organizations enrolled after being accepted through an application and vetting process.
The core objective of the Accelerator is to speed up the pre-development phase of development, enabling these organizations to bridge the gap between their expertise in service provision and the development process that will enable an expansion of their services. The organizations participating in our 2025 program are listed below:
Maarifa Empowerment Initiative/ Yorkgate Settlement Care
Centre for Immigrant and Community Services
Thank you to our mentors:
Joana Filgueiras, Director-Client and Stakeholder Enablement at CreateTO
Sean Galbraith, President at Sean Galbraith & Associates
Kathy, Director, United Way Perth-Huron
Siva Vimalachandran, Managing Principal at 6 Degrees Consulting
Cherry Tang, Development and Project Management Associate at WestBank Corp.
Ajeev Bhatia, Development Associate at SmartCentres REIT
Kendra Fry, Curator of Community at Creative Collisions
Rev Keenan, Minister, United Church of Canada
Mia Trana, Affordable Housing Consultant at Tim Welch Consulting
Infrastructure Institute is thrilled to support CP Planning as a program delivery partner in the mentorship component of the Roadmap For Redevelopment: Plans to Confront Systemic Racism. The Roadmap Connect program builds upon our existing Social Purpose Rea Estate Training to address the barriers that racialized leaders and communities of non-profit organizations face in the development and procurement of affordable housing.
The core objective of the Accelerator is to speed up the pre-development phase of real estate and housing development, enabling these organizations to bridge the gap between their expertise in service provision and the development process that will enable an expansion of their services. The organizations participating in our Roadmap Connect 2024 program are listed below:
Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto
London Cross Cultural Learner Centre (CCLC)
Matthew House Refugee Services Toronto
Oakwood Vaughan Community Organization (OVCO)
Boys & Girls Club of East Scarborough
The core objective of the Accelerator is to speed up the pre-development phase of development, enabling these organizations to bridge the gap between their expertise in service provision and the development process that will enable an expansion of their services. The organizations participating in our 2023-2024 program are listed below:
Rwandan Canadian Healing Centre
Ghanaian-Canadian Association of Ontario
United Way of Perth-Huron (United Housing)
Catholic Crosscultural Services
Groupe Artisanal Féminin Francophone de l’Ontario
Opportunity Villages Community Land Trust
Thank You to Our Mentors:
Emmy Kelly, Blue Door
Graham Cubitt, Indwell
Angus D. Palmer, Wigwammen
Olwen Bennett, New Commons
Suzanne Le, Multifaith Housing Initiative
Lauralyn Johnston, County of Simcoe, Social & Community Services
Sunna Zubair, Fusion Homes
Alica Hall, Nia Centre
Mukhtar Latif, Pomegranate Housing Consultancy
The core objective of the Accelerator is to speed up the pre-development phase of development, enabling these organizations to bridge the gap between their expertise in service provision and the development process that will enable an expansion of their services. The organizations participating in our 2022-2023 program are listed below:
Andrew Fleck Children’s Services
Somali Centre for Culture and Recreation (SCCR)
Christie Refugee Welcome Centre
Thank You to Our Mentors:
Rev. Jim Keenan, St. Luke’s United Church
Andi van Koeverden, The Mount Community Centre
Mukhtar Latif, Crosswalk Communities
Mwarigha, Woodgreen
Alex Mather, Markee Developments
Arshmanie Ramkissoon, YWCA Toronto
Stephen Job, Tenblock
Sunna Zubair, New Commons Development
Chris White, Parcel Economics