For Lenders & Other Partners
Why Should You Work with Us?
The First Nations Market Housing Fund exists to create safe, stable, and community-led pathways to homeownership in First Nations communities. But we can’t do that alone.
Lenders and financial institutions play a critical role in helping make home a reality – on reserve and on settlement lands – where conventional lending has often fallen short. That’s where we come in.
As a First Nations-led organization, the Fund acts as a trusted bridge between lenders and communities, helping mitigate risk, support readiness, and lay the foundation for long-term lending relationships.
Here’s why lenders work with us:
Stronger clients, stronger results.
We work directly with communities to strengthen their housing systems, supporting governance, policies, financial management, and operational capacity. The result: more qualified borrowers, and greater long-term success.
Risk-sharing through Credit Enhancement.
Our Credit Enhancement Facility provides a financial backstop for lenders, reducing risk and increasing confidence in lending on reserve. It helps you say “yes” where you may not have before.
Indigenous-led, community-informed.
We understand the legal, cultural, and economic contexts of lending on reserve because we’ve been invited into those conversations. We ensure lenders are aligned with community goals, not working at
cross-purposes.
Partnership Steps
Working with the Fund is straightforward, collaborative, and built on shared goals: reduce risk, increase access, and help First Nations communities achieve their housing vision. Here’s how we work with lenders and financial institutions:
1. Let’s Connect
It starts with a conversation. We’ll walk you through how the Fund supports both lenders and First Nations communities, and explore how your institution can be involved.
2. Understand the Credit Enhancement Model
We’ll explain how our Credit Enhancement Facility works; how it increases lending confidence, and supports sustainable mortgage financing on reserve or settlement lands.
3. Align on Lending Terms
We work together to establish lender-specific terms that reflect both lender requirements and the needs of First Nations communities and its members. We’ll also explore how your existing products can be adapted or extended to First Nations markets.
4. Align on Lending Terms
Once a First Nation is approved for Credit Enhancement, First Nations that are ready to move forward are connected to FNMHF-approved lenders. We provide ongoing support for the relationship-building process to ensure alignment and trust.
5. Close Deals with Confidence
With the Fund’s Credit Enhancement in place and capacity supports ongoing, lenders can move forward knowing the foundation is strong, with the first nation, the borrower and the lending institution.
6. Stay Engaged
Partnership with the Fund is ongoing. We provide updates, insights, and opportunities to deepen your impact with first nations, while continuing to support the long-term success of the First Nations and its members towards housing and pathways to homeownership.
Participating Lenders
This is a list of institutions that have stepped up to put their money to the cause of economic reconciliation – while still making profits. First Nations back-stop the loans made to their citizens, and the Fund back-stops the First Nations. This gives lenders the certainty they need to lend on First Nations lands where legislation complicates a traditional mortgage relationship.
We are proud of the lenders who have stepped forward to fill this important role.
Allied Organizations
Providing adequate and appropriate housing for First Nations is an enormous task. There is an estimated $60 billion need in Indigenous housing, and First Nations communities continue to lag behind the rest of Canada.
Homeownership for First Nations people is part of the solution, but not the only solution. We work with other experts in First Nations housing to work out how we can best help chip away at the housing deficit on our lands. Here are some of the organizations leading the way.
