The federal government has announced a $1 million funding boost to support 'a made-in-Windsor' solution to address the need for housing across Canada.
The money announced Monday by Windsor-Tecumseh Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk will help Resimate grow and expand efforts across Canada to map out and help those looking to add an additional dwelling unit, or ADU, to their property.
The development of the online tool began in Windsor in early 2021 and has since grown into a backyard home marketplace that provides homeowners with a free lot assessment and connections to backyard home builders to explore ADU models that could fit in their backyard.
Along with providing potential ADU models, the site offers homeowners help in navigating the backyard home building process with the overall goal of reducing timelines and red tape.
Sarah Cipkar, founder and CEO of Resimate, says they are dedicated to a turn-key system for homeowners to be able to order, install, and deliver a backyard home from anywhere in Canada.
"It will show them their buildable area and whether or not their property is suitable. Then they can select a model from the catalogue, see if they like it, see the specs, everything about it," she says. "Then they connect directly to a Resimate industry expert, and we basically help them order that model and set them up for the permit and delivery process."
Cipkar says there isn't a lot of education around backyard homes and how they could be used.
"A lot of people start thinking about it for their parents because they don't necessarily want to spend the money on a long-term care home. Maybe it's a young adult who can't afford to enter the housing market yet. But then some people are like, well, it could just be a flexible space for a rental or something like that. There's so many different options, it becomes this really accessible housing solution for families across Canada," she says.
Resimate is currently operating in over 15 cities across Canada, including Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary.
Since 2021, Resimate has received over $3.5 million in funding from the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the federal government.
The government has set a goal of adding over 3.5 million more homes by 2031.