Reimagining Social Infrastructure for the 21st Century
At Relèven, we believe faith properties are one of society’s most overlooked forms of social infrastructure—places where community life, care, and connection flourish. Our work transforms these underused assets into engines of social and economic renewal.
A Proven Return on Social Investment
Our journey began with ground-breaking research through the Halo Canada Project, led by Relèven’s Research Director, Dr. Mike Wood Daly. The findings were striking:
For every $1 spent by religious communities, nearly $4 of social value is created—adding more than $18 billion annually to the Canadian economy.
This research has helped shift national conversations around the value of religious properties, laying the foundation for tangible change.
From Roundtables to Action
We launched City Round Tables across Guelph, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Peterborough—now expanding to cities like St. John’s, Waterloo, and Calgary, with the support of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) Solutions Lab. These initiatives bring together civic, faith, and housing leaders to address the transition of religious properties with urgency and imagination.
The Relèven Transition Fund
In partnership with the Community Housing Transformation Centre, we created the Relèven Transition Fund to acquire and repurpose vulnerable church buildings. These are more than real estate—they’re future community hubs, affordable housing sites, and places of dignity.
Scalable Solutions for Faith-Based Land
With funding from CMHC’s EcoH program, we are developing practical, scalable models—like the Faith-Based Land for Housing Development and Shared Ground initiative in Winnipeg—to identify, map, and transform underused faith-owned land into vital community assets.
A National Vision for Housing
Now, in collaboration with Housing and Infrastructure Canada, we’re undertaking our most ambitious initiative yet:
A comprehensive national mapping and prioritization of Canada’s faith properties to accelerate affordable housing development.
This bold, systems-level approach could unlock hundreds of sites for immediate transformation, putting faith properties at the heart of Canada's housing solutions.
Global Connections
Relèven is proudly Canadian—but our reach is global. We actively contribute to international conversations, including:
Multi-faith impact investing coalitions
The Vatican’s work on faith-consistent finance
Partnerships with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Collaboration with major American religious landowners
