Jeff McLaren, Chair, Limestone City Co-operative Housing

Project: Integrated Affordable Housing & Vertical Farming Community The Challenge LCCH is a pioneering non-profit co-operative aiming to address Kingston's housing and food security crises through a ground-breaking development: 248 units of affordable, net-zero housing integrated with a large-scale, 600-bay vertical farm. While the vision was robust, the project faced a complex funding landscape. To move from conceptualization to execution, LCCH needed a sophisticated grant strategy that could bridge the gap between social housing initiatives and agricultural technology funding, while positioning the project for large-scale institutional and federal capital. Our Approach Grant Solutions Canada (GSC) partnered with LCCH to professionalize their funding approach and operationalize their vision. Our strategy focused on:

• Comprehensive Grant Mapping: Conducted extensive pre-eligibility research, identifying over 20 unique grant opportunities with a combined potential of more than $100 million.

  
  

• Strategic Pipeline Development: Structured a sequenced funding pathway that aligned capital stacking with federal and CMHC expectations, ensuring the project meets critical "shovel-ready" requirements.

  
  

• Advocacy & Capacity Building: Provided advisory services for mission and mandate development, presentation support for City Council delegations, and successful execution of key funding applications.

  
  

• Operational Integration: Advised on business plan development and risk assessment to meet the rigorous evidentiary standards required by institutional lenders and public funders.

  
  

The Results By partnering with Grant Solutions Canada, LCCH successfully transitioned from a conceptual project to a credible, institutionally viable development organization.

• Financial Impact: Secured initial grant funding and established a clear, structured pipeline for over $100 million in projected capital funding.

  
  

• Grant Readiness: Successfully built a repeatable, professionalized grant strategy that positioned LCCH to access multiple revenue streams simultaneously—from pre-development seeds to large-scale construction funding.

  
  

• Mission Alignment: Effectively articulated the project’s value proposition to municipal and provincial stakeholders, helping to secure the mission-aligned partnerships necessary for long-term project success.