What happens when community land trusts (CLTs) and credit unions come together to tackle one of Canada’s toughest housing challenges?
That’s the question at the heart of The Equity Gap, a three-part documentary podcast series exploring how credit unions and CLTs can work together to find new ways to finance and preserve permanently affordable housing.
Produced through a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)-funded Affordable Housing Solutions Lab in Ontario—co-led by CCUA and Scaled Purpose—the series gives listeners an inside look at how purpose-driven finance and community stewardship can collaborate.
All three episodes are now available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, taking listeners from the roots of the challenge to the innovative solutions being explored through the Lab.
- Episode 1: In What if we owned the land together: Community Land Trusts, listeners are introduced to the community land trust model and the growing movement to take land out of the speculative market and place it under community control. The episode explores the insights from Toronto Chinatown Land Trust, Kensington Market Community Land Trust and Ottawa Community Land Trust.
- Episode 2: Different by design: Credit Unions looks at why credit unions may be uniquely positioned to help close that financing gap. Featuring perspectives from the Canadian Credit Union Association, Kindred Credit Union, Vancity Community Investment Bank and Meridian Credit Union, the episode highlights the sector’s community-focused roots and examples of innovative approaches already being used to support affordable housing.
- Finally, Episode 3: Inside the Solutions Lab takes listeners behind the scenes of the Lab. Participants share the financing solutions they have been prototyping — including blended finance approaches that combine credit union lending with community and foundation capital, as well as GICs that enable community members to directly support CLT acquisitions through their credit union. Just as importantly, the episode highlights the relationships and trust being built between the credit union and CLT sectors.
Don't miss the bonus episode featuring a live panel recording on collective ownership and community resilience from the 2026 Jack Quarter Lectureship on the Social Economy!
Looking Ahead: Final Report Releasing Later This Month
The podcast is a window into the work underway through the Solutions Lab — but there is more to come.
A final report from the Affordable Housing Solutions Lab will be released later this month, bringing together the research, insights and solutions developed through the Lab and exploring how these ideas could be tested and scaled in the real world.
The report will offer a closer look at what it could take to close the equity gap and unlock more capital for community-led affordable housing — and what role credit unions can play in making that happen.
Listen to all three episodes of The Equity Gap on Spotify here.
