Job Board

Submissions are due by 11:59 pm on Thursday, May 9, 2024. Late applications will only be accepted if all the positions are not filled. 

HOUSE stands for Housing Our University Students Equitably. Our mission is to develop affordable housing for young adults, post-secondary students and workers across Canada that is permanently under the control of the students and student unions. HOUSE is a non-profit organization that is collectively owned by local student unions and housing committees across Canada. HOUSE receives direction and funding from these local student unions and committees. Our model ensures perpetual housing affordability by establishing a portfolio of purpose-driven non-profit housing residences across Canada.

The Community Organizer will support several initiatives in engaging community members alongside other HOUSE team members, primarily engaging post-secondary students on the issue of affordable housing for students through education, community consultation, organizing and volunteer engagement. 

Role and Responsibilities 

• Act as the liaison between HOUSE, local student union(s), post-secondary institutions, local government officials, community organizations and the real estate sector. 

• Reach out to community members (municipal, provincial/territorial, university administrations, student unions, indigenous stakeholders and elders, etc.) through a variety of means to facilitate the development of partnerships and collaborative sponsorships that can advance the case for affordable student housing. 

• Oversee all community engagement, outreach and housing education activities on campus, including postering, informational tabling, leafleting, public consultations and workshops. 

• Event planning and organizing, including room booking, ordering A/V equipment and refreshments, promotion of the event, preparing and erecting event signage, booking speakers (if required), preparing presentation or materials (if required).  Examples of events could include: housing consultations, housing rights workshop, community meal, deputations in support of housing at City Hall, housing rally, public town hall, housing information session. 

• Plan and help run community engagement opportunities, such as interviews, workshops, and consultations using a cultural competency framework, anti-oppression lens and informed consent. Present your findings to a large range of audiences, including HOUSE team members, stakeholders, and community members. • Documenting all events, including taking notes, videos and photos. 

 • Scheduling meetings, and taking clear/concise minutes for all meetings [consider multiple staff calendars when scheduling meetings, keep executive schedules updated by adding Google Calendar events, maintaining digital organization of meeting minutes in HOUSE and affiliates’ drives]. 

• Assist in the production of local print, web and social media materials for the campus. 

• Maintain social media for the local campus. 

 Conduct primary research in the form of surveys, focus groups, and interviews to inform datasets and report writing. 

• Conduct secondary research in the form of searching for research and newspaper articles, public records, and census data usage to inform datasets and report writing. 

• Conduct real estate searches using Google Maps, Google Earth, ArcGIS, Realtor.ca, commercial real estate firms (Colliers, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, JLL), public records such as ownership title and property tax roll assessments, to identify potential sites for development or land assembly.  

• Recruiting, training and on-boarding new volunteers. • Create and manage relationships with community organizations, respond to partnership and collaboration opportunities, and provide consistent updates and information to these organizations.

• Understanding of the Organization, its purpose, history, policies and programs

• Represent the Organization in a professional and congenial manner in person, in online meetings, in telephone  conversations, and in written correspondence

• Delegation or sharing of duties with others as necessary