The Halal Affordable Housing Investment Fund is a values-aligned finance vehicle purpose-built to serve Canada's most underserved families. It funds both the building and long-term sustainability of affordable housing. We're seeking philanthropic & impact investment capital.
Affordable 2+ bedroom units are chronically undersupplied across Canada, leaving extended and multi-generational families overcrowded, priced out, or scattered across multiple units when they need to be together.
Halal finance principles prohibit interest-based financing, cutting Muslim organizations off from virtually all mainstream capital sources; including federal grant programs that condition support on interest-bearing debt.
Values-aligned investors have very few institutional-quality, Halal-compliant investment options in Canada, despite representing a significant and growing pool of values-driven capital seeking real-asset exposure.
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; understanding both is key to understanding this fund.
A barrier: Canada's affordable housing system is based on interest-bearing debt products that many values anchored Canadian communities cannot accept. Communities that collectively distribute hundreds of millions in annual charitable giving have been structurally locked out of building the housing they 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. Recurring, restricted, predicatable community philanthrophy can be structured to fund the ongoing operations and maintenance of housing. Most affordable housing models can build, but this fund can also sustain.
Larger and extended families, those with 4 or more members, wait longer for affordable housing than any other group in Canada: an average of 4 years. Purpose-built housing for them isn't being built at scale. We're changing that.
The Fund was created by IslamicFamily, developed with SVX (Canada's foremost impact investment institution), and is operated in partnership with Build Edmonton Homes. Construction is already underway on 264 bedrooms in the Dunluce neighbourhood in Edmonton.
This is not a niche investment. It is a scalable, values-driven response to a systemic failure; with shovels already in the ground.
Construction is underway on 264 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 house 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.
Zakat is a restricted philanthropic giving from the Muslim community that needs to be chanelled to those local and in need. The Canadian Muslim community distributes $½ billion in zakat. This zakat can be used to provide an affordability subsidy that makes rents accessible. Ongoing, community based rent supplements are unprecedented in Canada. This ensures 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 Halal-compliant. Developed by SVX. First round now open.
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.
Building housing – especially at scale – necessitates taking on debt, this excludes communities from contributing to affordable housing and ignores social impact capital. This fund would help bring new capital and operational dollars into solving Canada’s greatest challenge.
The Fund is structured as a GP/LP vehicle — General Partner jointly owned by IslamicFamily (60%) and SVX (40%). Investors subscribe as Limited Partners. Capital is deployed on an equity basis, with returns tied to real asset performance rather than interest or debt.
Investor Classes
Return of capital only · 5-year horizon · For concessional or mission-first investors who prioritise social impact over financial return.
Above return of capital · 10-year horizon · For accredited investors seeking modest, stable, impact-aligned returns backed by real assets.
Residual proceeds, after all LP investor distributions, flow entirely back to IslamicFamily for charitable purposes. SVX does not participate in residual profits beyond management fees.
National recognition for the Halal Housing Lab research initiative, producing Canada's first open-source guide to halal affordable housing development.
Alberta Professional Planners Institute recognized the Halal Housing Lab as the province's outstanding planning project,.
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 →Build Edmonton Homes is the development and construction partner bringing the Dunluce project to life on the ground in Edmonton. Working alongside IslamicFamily on the 264-bedroom Dunluce development on land secured through the City of Edmonton. Build Edmonton Homes brings the on-ground expertise to deliver housing that is designed specifically for larger and extended families, with construction already underway.
buildedmontonhomes.ca →We want to speak 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