Will Salt Spring Be a Housing NOW Success Story?

Ten jointed this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome Adam Evanik of Housing NOW (https://www.sgicommunityresources.ca/housing-now-home/). After our Land Acknowledgement, we all introduced ourselves. While a few of us were relative newcomers (like 20 years), most in the room had lived on Salt Spring for many decades one even claiming an extra nine months, having been conceived, born, and raised here. Most in this seasoned group, however, knew very little, if anything, about Housing NOW. That was soon to change. . . . 

Like so many, Adam, a Salt Springer for about eight years, works a variety of jobs, including as a Paid on Call Firefighter, landscaper, filmmaker, and as Salt Spring’s Housing NOW coordinator. While each of these jobs brings their own delight, Adam finds his Housing NOW role to be his most satisfying, “exciting and delighting” him with its possibilities and challenges. Committed to building connections throughout our community, this relationship-fostering role is perfect for him. Busy connecting with community members and our other amazing housing nonprofits, he sees his work as a “Journey to change hearts and minds.” 

So, what is Housing NOW? Created by the Southern Gulf Island Community Resource Centre (located on Pender Island) in response to rural island housing needs, this program is designed to support those who want to share a portion of their living space, most often a kitchen, with another. (The Southern Gulf  Island Community Resource Centre has long been a leader in local housing issues, instrumental in the recent creation of the pilot CRD Rural Housing Program https://getinvolved.crd.bc.ca/crd-rural-housing-program.)

Home sharing can vary greatly, flexibly addressing a variety of unique housing needs. Generally, rents are slightly less than market, balanced by some agreed-upon services offered by the tenant. Designed to provide homes for those willing to also offer services, it is the perfect option for older homeowners seeking to age in place but needing yard work, errands, or even personal care. 

Housing NOW identifies potential home sharers, matches them, and adds structure and ongoing support that includes:

  • The creation and maintenance of Two HomeShare Registries, (https://www.sgicommunityresources.ca/housing-registry/), one for homeowners and one for tenants.
  • Personalized matching of tenants and homeowners to find those partnerships most likely to succeed.
  • Customization of unique contracts between these home sharers with clear expectations designed to address concerns, alleviate fears, and anticipate potential challenges. 
  • On-going support – Housing NOW folks do not just disappear once a match has been made. They remain available throughout the tenure of the home share. This support varies as needed, often beginning as casual “kitchen conversations” to address potential issues before they become problems.
  • Additional support, like the help of the Restorative Justice team, is available as needed.
  • Access to insurance, legal help, and other support is also provided if needed. 
  • In the rare cases when a match does not work, the tenant is relocated.

Housing NOW is funded by a variety of organizations including: 

All of these services are free for interested home sharers.    

In addition to all these services, home sharers will soon be able to also use Happipad (https://happipad.com/), a service offering registries, customizable contracts, insurance, and a variety of other benefits. Happipad services cost homeowners 3% of the rent they receive.  

While some may assume the Housing NOW program is simply another rental service, it is markedly different. Those sharing a home do not come under the regulations of the Residential Tenancy Act (https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/02078_01). Home sharers are regulated, instead, by at the agreements they have made jointly with the help of Housing NOW staff. While exemption from the Residential Tenancy Act can be very significant in calming homeowner worries about a tenant who refuses to leave, home sharers must also recognize that protections of this act are not available. Instead, the success of Housing NOW is based upon trust rather than traditional rental rules. 

Participants were intrigued. Some asked, could Housing Now be the answer to housing for healthcare workers, especially caregivers who may also offer some care services to homeowners? 

Could Housing NOW’s roommate matching services help create boarding houses, classified as home based businesses and allowed throughout Salt Spring? 

Did Adam know about Licences of Occupation (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/housing-and-tenancy/residential-tenancies/policy-guidelines/gl09.pdf), contracts between homeowners and tenants that also operate outside the Residential Tenancy Act? 

Could Housing NOW collaborate with our ASK Salt Spring guest last week, Habitat for Humanity’s Carmen (https://asksaltspring.com/2026/02/20/could-salt-spring-become-a-habitat-for-humanity-community/) to create a home sharing community?

In theory, Salt Spring should be the perfect home sharing community as a relatively small, rural community fueled by multiple networks, an aging population facing the need for support, and many workers seeking a place to live. So, how is Housing NOW working on Salt Spring? With a number of successful matches on the Southern Gulf Islands and, despite many seeking a home to share and some willing to share their homes, so far, Salt Spring has had no successful matches. Is it an unwillingness to share one’s home? Maybe it is the desire/need to get as much rent as possible? Could it be the fear of a housing arrangement not protected by the Residual Tenancy Act? Or. . .do too few Salt Springers even know about Housing NOW? 

Disappointed but undaunted, Adam believes that Salt Spring is simply different from the smaller islands. Homeowners are more likely to want market rental rates and seem less likely to offer the trust and interpersonal connection required for home sharing. Too often, given our dynamic rental market, Adam has found that, as he has been doing the work needed to create a home sharing match, the homeowner has gone ahead and rented the space through the traditional rental process.

Nevertheless, Adam remains optimistic that there are many home sharing opportunities on Salt Spring. Did you know that nearly 1,600 of our homes are occupied by only one resident? As our need for workers grows, Adam hopes that more will be willing to share their large, underutilized homes. As our population ages, having someone to do needed tasks could allow many to stay in their homes. He is currently focused on finding short term home sharing opportunities for seasonal workers. He believes that this will be a great opportunity for homeowners to try home sharing through an initial commitment lasting only a few months. 

Adam is also working with our largest businesses, seeking to place their workers in home sharing opportunities while also encouraging potential homeowners to more seriously consider workers who have been recommended by our trusted businesses. 

With many success stories through HomeShare Canada (https://www.canadahomeshare.com/) as well as the Southern Gulf Islands, Adam is using his filmmaking skills to create videos of these success stories . He is hoping they will inspire Salt Springers. He believes that all that is needed is a few Salt Spring success stories. We looked around the table, many of us thinking, it would only take a few of us to home share to begin to combat that pervasive fear of renting. We could help make Salt Spring’s Housing NOW a success story.   

Passionate about the intergenerational connections forged by home sharing, Adam is building connections throughout Salt Spring, planning gatherings this spring at Harbour House to meet interested home sharers (watch for news of these gatherings), and enthusiastically available to answer all of your questions (housingnowssi@sgicommunityresources.ca). Our time together over for this week, we left thanking Adam, wishing him well on his so needed but difficult task. We expressed appreciation for his hard work, passion for forging community connections, and dauntless optimism that Salt Spring will soon become a model of successful home sharing. (Thank-you, Adam!)  

Just in case you are interested. . . .This report has been written by Gayle Baker, founder of ASK Salt Spring, currently also a Salt Spring Local Community Commissioner. It has been reviewed by Adam