The Halal Affordable Housing Investment Fund is a values-aligned finance vehicle purpose-built to serve Canada's most underserved families — and to fund both the building and long-term sustainability of affordable housing. We're seeking philanthropic & impact investment capital.
Larger and extended families — those with 4 or more members — wait longer (average 4+ years) on affordable housing waitlists than any other group in Canada. Purpose-built housing for them doesn't exist at scale. We're building it.
The Fund was created by IslamicFamily, developed with SVX — Canada's foremost impact investment institution — and is operated in partnership with Vivid Homes. Construction is already underway on 285 bedrooms at the Dunluce site in Edmonton, secured through the City of Edmonton.
This is not a niche investment. It is a scalable, values-driven response to a systemic failure — with shovels already in the ground.
Halal finance — also known as Shariah-compliant or Islamic finance — is grounded in three core principles that will feel immediately familiar to any impact investor.
Access to halal finance plays two distinct roles in Canada's affordable housing landscape — and understanding both is key to understanding this fund.
A barrier: Canada's affordable housing system — led by CMHC — conditions grant support on interest-bearing debt products that observant Muslim organizations cannot accept. Communities that collectively distribute hundreds of millions in annual charitable giving are structurally locked out of building the housing their own families need.
An opportunity: That same values-driven discipline unlocks something rare — a motivated, recurring, and largely untapped pool of capital from the broader halal economy. Zakat, sadaqah, and waqf can be structured to fund the ongoing operations and maintenance of housing. Most affordable housing models can build. This fund can sustain.
Construction is underway on 285 bedrooms in Edmonton. Your capital enters a project with secured land, confirmed government support, a commitment to 🌱 Built Green Platinum™, and an experienced housing development partner already on the ground.
Larger families are systematically underserved by Canada's affordable housing system. By designing for extended families, we houses 20–40% more people — increasing density without sacrificing dignity.
The Fund unlocks both investment capital for construction and an unprecedented stream of community-based rent supplement revenue for long-term operations — a financing structure that doesn't exist in Canada.
Philanthropic capital — including zakat — provides the affordability subsidy that makes rents accessible. This is not typical charity. It is economic justice: ensuring families pay rents they can actually afford, while generating the stable cashflow that makes the entire structure viable.
Investment shares are structured for high stability and predictable modest returns, backed by real assets and long-term operational revenue. Designed for institutional and accredited investors with a values-aligned mandate. Fully Shariah-compliant. Developed by SVX. First round opens to investors in 2025.
Phase 1 is underway in Edmonton. Rollout partners are confirmed in Nova Scotia, Ontario, and British Columbia. The legal structure, community partnerships, and government relationships are designed to replicate. The structure is Islamic. The opportunity is Canadian.
CMHC's current model conditions grant funding on its own debt — excluding communities from contributing to affordable housing despite distributing $½ billion in community support annually. This fund is the workaround. It brings new dollars into a system designed to keep them out.
Alberta Professional Planners Institute recognized the Halal Housing Lab as the province's outstanding planning project — a two-year CMHC Innovation Lab initiative.
National recognition for the Halal Housing Lab research initiative, producing Canada's first open-source guide to halal affordable housing development.
The Halal Housing Lab was funded by CMHC as a national innovation project, resulting in a published open-source guide and presentations to the CMHC Board of Directors.
IslamicFamily is an Edmonton-based social services organization serving equity-seeking communities across Alberta. With over four decades of experience, IslamicFamily led the two-year CMHC-funded Halal Housing Lab — Canada's first national research initiative on halal affordable housing — and is the originating force behind this fund. Winner of the 2024 Alberta Professional Planners Institute Award and the 2025 Canadian Institute of Planners Award for Planning Excellence.
islamicfamily.ca →SVX is Canada's foremost impact investment institution, connecting purpose-driven organizations with values-aligned capital. SVX is responsible for structuring, developing, and managing the Halal Affordable Housing Investment Fund — bringing the legal architecture, investor testing, and institutional relationships needed to bring this vehicle to market. The Fund has been selected for the SVX Impact Index+ for its commitment to impact, governance, and financial excellence.
svx.ca →Vivid Homes is the development and construction partner bringing the Dunluce project to life on the ground in Edmonton. Working alongside IslamicFamily on the 285-bedroom Dunluce development — on land secured through the City of Edmonton — Vivid Homes brings the on-ground expertise to deliver housing that is designed specifically for larger and extended families, with construction already underway.
We're speaking with funders and social impact investors to understand how this fund fits your portfolio. Your input directly shapes how we structure investment opportunities.
Open to accredited investors and philanthropic funders · Approximately 2 minutes