In October 2025, more than 40 volunteers fanned out across Medicine Hat over a 24-hour period to count how many people were experiencing homelessness in the city. They checked streets, shelters, and less visible areas. When they were done, the number was 136.
That's the backdrop for a 20-unit affordable housing building currently going up at 1482 Fifth Avenue SE.
The Medicine Hat Community Housing Society is developing the project, listed on the Alberta Major Projects Registry as 5th Avenue Affordable Housing Phase 1. FWBA Architects are the designers. The schedule shows 2025-2026, meaning it's expected to complete this year.
Who's building it and what they actually do
MHCHS isn't a private developer chasing returns. It's the designated Housing Management Body for the City of Medicine Hat under the Alberta Housing Act, which means it administers all social housing programs in the city, manages 582 rental units directly across Medicine Hat and Redcliff, and handles approximately 386 private market rent supplements for low-income households.
The organization receives about $1 million annually from the federal government and $3.1 million from the province to run housing and homelessness programs. It's also Medicine Hat's Community Entity under the federal Reaching Home strategy, the body responsible for the city's Plan to End Homelessness.
Medicine Hat made international news in 2009 when it became the first city in Canada to functionally end chronic homelessness. MHCHS built and runs the system that made that happen. The 136 people counted in October 2025 are a reminder that maintaining that status requires constant work and constant housing supply.
What affordable housing means in Medicine Hat
In the MHCHS program, affordable housing is rent set at 10 to 30 percent below the market rate for a comparable unit. Heat, water, waste removal, and sewer are included. Tenants qualify based on income thresholds set by the province.
Medicine Hat's living wage sits lower than Calgary or Edmonton but housing costs have climbed alongside the rest of Alberta. The gap between what low-income residents can pay and what the private market charges has widened enough that even in a smaller city, the waitlist for MHCHS units is real and the demand for new supply matters.
How these projects actually get built
Getting affordable housing built in Medicine Hat takes years of groundwork. In December 2022, city council approved an 8-0 vote to donate land and services worth $775,000 toward an MHCHS project on Kipling Street, with the city pulling the funds from its community capital reserve. That project required proof of municipal partnership just to apply for federal funding through the National Housing Strategy.
The 5th Avenue project follows the same model MHCHS identifying sites, securing partnerships, and stacking funding sources to make the numbers work on buildings that wouldn't pencil out for a private developer at rents low-income residents can actually pay.
What Phase 1 means
The project name includes Phase 1, which signals more is planned. No Phase 2 details have been registered on the provincial registry yet. For families and individuals on the MHCHS waitlist right now, 20 new units coming online in 2026 is 20 households who get a stable home — and a step toward a system that keeps pace with a city that's still growing.
Sources:
Alberta Major Projects Registry — 5th Avenue Affordable Housing Phase 1 (majorprojects.alberta.ca)
Medicine Hat Community Housing Society — Point-In-Time Count 2025 report, April 21, 2026 (mhchs.ca)
Medicine Hat Community Housing Society — Housing Programs and About Us (mhchs.ca)
Medicine Hat News — Council OKs land donation for affordable housing, December 21, 2022 (medicinehatnews.com)
Rotary Club of Medicine Hat — MHCHS presentation summary (medicinehatrotary.com)
