On-Reserve Housing

One of the biggest challenges facing Cowichan Tribes is providing additional on-Reserve housing for members. Most Reserve land is allocated to Certificate of Possession holders (CP), leaving virtually no land for overall communal development such as housing, unless the Band leases or buys the land from the CP holder(s).

At the same time however, since Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) retains underlying legal title to the land, CP holders cannot use the land as collateral for a mortgage or loan without first getting approval from INAC, which is a long and involved process.

On-Reserve Housing manages rental homes and facilitates the construction of new homes. It provides the following services:

Property Management

Filling vacancies
Collecting rent
Maintaining rental housing

CLICK HERE if you are a Tenant in a band rental unit

Capital Projects

Installing and maintaining civil infrastructure, e.g., water, sewer
Subdivision layout, e.g., roads, legal surveys
Constructing new accommodation other than privately-owned homes

CLICK HERE to read more about Capital Projects

CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR

HOUSING APPLICATION HOMEPAGE

Did you know...

Most homes on the Reserve are privately owned. The remainders are rental homes owned by Cowichan Tribes or are subsidized homes funded through Canada Mortgage and Housing (CHMC).

Number of private homes: 418
Number of Band-owned rentals: 84
Number of CHMC-owned rentals: 92
Number of applications on wait list: 700+

Last updated 7/6/2020