Plan Elder and accessible housing as two jobs: build every new home so it can adapt, and build a smaller number fully accessible for people who need it now. Federal programs on reserve pay for care and for adapting existing homes, not for building care facilities, so the design decisions sit with the housing plan. The 2025 National Building Code now points the same way, with low-cost adaptable features for all types of dwelling units.
This guide is for housing managers and technical staff who are asked to find homes for Elders who can no longer manage stairs, for adults with disabilities who want to stay in the community, and for families caring for both. It sets out what the support programs cover, what the new code provisions say, which design features matter most, and a checklist you can take into your next housing plan or design meeting. It is general information: confirm program rules with Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), CMHC and your lands or housing office before you rely on them.
Why plan for aging and disability now, in a young community?
First Nations communities are young, but they are getting older. Statistics Canada reports that the average age of First Nations people was 32.5 years in 2021, and that from 2016 to 2021, the share of Indigenous people aged 65 and older rose from 7.3% to 9.5%. The people who will need step-free homes in 20 years are already living in the houses you manage today.
That matters because a house lasts far longer than any one household's needs. A home built this year for a young family may later be home to a grandparent, a person recovering from an injury, or an adult child who uses a wheelchair. If the house cannot change, the person usually has to move, and on reserve that can mean leaving the community for care. Planning for aging and disability is mostly about avoiding that outcome.
What do ISC care programs cover, and what do they not pay for?
Two ISC programs fund the supports that let people stay at home. Neither builds housing, but both shape what kind of housing you need.
The Assisted Living Program provides funding for non-medical, social support services to seniors, adults with chronic illness, and children and adults with a disability on reserve. It has three parts: in-home care, adult foster care and institutional care. To qualify, a person must be living on reserve or ordinarily resident there, be formally assessed by a health care provider as needing social support services, and lack the means or other government support to get those services. People start by contacting their band's assisted living coordinator or band manager. Residents of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are covered by their territorial program instead.
The program's national guidelines are explicit on two points housing staff should know. In-home care can pay for minor home maintenance "such as fixing a door knob or attaching a railing along stairs." But program funding "cannot be used for capital expenditures such as the construction of care facilities." The guidelines also define institutional care levels: Type I is residential care for people who mainly need supervision and help with daily living, and Type II is extended care for people who need personal care available 24 hours a day under medical and nursing supervision.
First Nations and Inuit Home and Community Care funds assessment, case management, nursing, personal care and in-home respite for First Nations and Inuit people of all ages with disabilities, chronic or acute illnesses, and for the elderly, who live on reserve, in a First Nations community north of 60 or in an Inuit community and have had a formal assessment of their continuing care needs. The program page was last modified in 2016, so check current details with your ISC regional office.
The practical lesson: care workers can only deliver care in a home they can get into and work in. A bathroom too small for a caregiver to help with bathing, or an entrance with five icy steps, limits what in-home care can do no matter how well it is funded. The home care nurse and the assisted living coordinator know which households are close to that line. Bring them into housing planning early.
What does the 2025 National Building Code say about accessible homes?
The 2025 editions of the National Model Codes were released on December 22, 2025. The Canadian Board for Harmonized Construction Codes describes them as technical documents that, "when adopted into regulation by provinces and territories," set minimum performance levels, including for accessibility. The accessibility objective now applies to all types of dwelling units, and provinces and territories can adjust how the requirements apply.
Two new parts of the code matter for housing, according to the board's summary of the accessibility changes:
- Adaptable dwelling units (Subsection 3.8.4) apply to all types of dwelling units. They call for low-cost features: a wider entrance, reachable light switches and electrical outlets, and reinforcement of stud walls around toilets, showers and bathtubs so grab bars can be installed later.
- Visitable dwelling units (Subsection 3.8.5) apply to designated units in multi-unit residential buildings. These need the adaptable features plus wider paths of travel and an entrance-level washroom with room to manoeuvre a mobility aid.
A model code has legal force only where it has been adopted, and which code edition applies on reserve or on settlement land depends on your community's own bylaws, funding agreements and inspection arrangements. Ask ISC, CMHC or your lands office which edition your project must meet. Even where the 2025 provisions are not yet required, they make a sensible minimum to write into your own design standard: they were chosen because they are cheap to build in and expensive to add later.
Which design features make the biggest difference?
CMHC defines universal design as making spaces, products and environments "usable by all people, regardless of age or ability," and notes that putting these features in at the planning stage "involves little to no additional cost." Its list of features includes a no-step entrance, wide doorways, roll-in showers, offset plumbing under sinks, colour contrast around doorways, and rocker-style switches and lever-style door handles.
CMHC's guide Housing for Older Canadians: Designing the Project gives a room-by-room list. The items most useful for a typical single-storey or duplex home are below.
- Throughout: space for wheelchairs and walkers to move freely, smooth low thresholds, lever-style door handles and faucets, non-slip flooring, good non-glare lighting, and windows with low sills.
- Entry: the entry near parking, ramps and landings or well-designed steps, a bench or ledge to set things down while opening the door, and a covered porch, canopy or overhang.
- Bathroom: a full bathroom on the ground floor, an adjustable-height vanity with removable lower cabinets, a roll-in shower with an adjustable-height showerhead, temperature-limiting controls, and walls reinforced for grab bars.
- Kitchen: removable lower cupboards, cabinets, appliances, switches and outlets within easy reach, and colour contrast on outlets, cabinets and counters.
- Bedroom, laundry and storage: light and phone controls within reach of the bed, laundry on the same floor as the living area with front-loading machines, and space to store and recharge a wheelchair, walker or scooter.
- Patio or deck: a doorway a wheelchair can fit through and a minimum depth of 1.8 m (6 ft.).
The same guide notes that power outlets at an accessible height of 450 mm (18 in.) are easier to reach for everyone. In northern climates, the entry deserves extra attention: a ramp or landing that is exposed to snow and ice is only accessible part of the year, which is why the covered entry on CMHC's list is worth treating as a requirement rather than an extra.
How do you adapt homes that are already standing?
Most Elders will age in homes that already exist. CMHC's On-Reserve Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program (RRAP) is open to all First Nations for on-reserve First Nation or occupant-owned homes, where household income is at or below the set limit. It provides up to $60,000 per unit, and the maximum may be increased by 25% where the project includes accessibility work for persons with disabilities or minor adaptations for seniors (or where the home is in a northern or remote area). Approved work must start within 3 months and be finished within 12 months of approval; if it is, the contribution does not need to be repaid. Applications go through your CMHC Indigenous and the North Housing Solutions Specialist.
CMHC's RRAP booklet for repairs and adaptations explains that the former disability, seniors' (HASI) and other renovation streams have been combined into one program. For a senior's adaptation, the resident must be 55 or older, have an age-related condition or diminished ability that an eligible adaptation can help, live in the home independently and be a permanent resident. Eligible accessibility work includes installing or repairing a wheelchair ramp or lift, modifying doorways, kitchens and bathrooms, and installing an interior chair lift. Two rules catch people out: if the link between the work and the disability is not evident, confirmation from a qualified expert such as a physician or physiotherapist is needed, and the home must meet minimum health and safety standards before accessibility work is done (or major deficiencies must be fixed at the same time).
For the wider set of capital programs for new housing and community buildings, see our guide to funding modular buildings for First Nations.
How do you match homes to the people who need them?
Good design only helps if the right homes end up in the right places with the right people. A few planning habits make the difference:
- Keep a confidential list of known needs. With consent, work with the assisted living coordinator and home care nurse to know how many households include someone with a mobility, sensory or cognitive limitation, and who is likely to need a step-free home in the next five years.
- Decide the mix: adaptable for all, fully accessible for some. CMHC's guide describes a project where "two units are fully accessible and all units are adaptable." That pattern suits most communities: a handful of homes ready for a wheelchair user on day one, and every other home able to be converted without major work.
- Site for access, not just for lots. Put accessible units on level ground close to the road, the health centre, the store and family. A perfect house at the end of a steep, unplowed lane does not work for an Elder.
- Think about the household, not just the person. Many Elders live with grandchildren or are cared for by family. A main-floor accessible bedroom and bathroom in a family-size home can work better than a small separate unit.
- Record the features in the housing file. Note which homes have reinforced walls, step-free entries and wide doors, so the next allocation decision uses them.
What should go on your planning and design checklist?
- Ask ISC, CMHC or your lands office which building code edition applies to the project, and whether the 2025 adaptable dwelling unit provisions are required.
- Write a community design standard that makes the 2025 adaptable features (wider entrance, reachable switches and outlets, reinforced bathroom walls) the minimum for every new home.
- Set a target number of fully accessible units based on the needs list, and choose their sites first.
- Require at least one step-free entrance with a covered landing, and a ground-floor bedroom and full bathroom, in homes intended for Elders.
- Specify lever handles, low thresholds, non-slip flooring, offset sink plumbing and a roll-in or low-entry shower in accessible units.
- Put laundry on the main floor and leave space to park and charge a mobility device.
- Review drawings with the home care nurse or an occupational therapist before they are final.
- For existing homes, screen Elders and residents with disabilities for RRAP adaptation work, and fix health and safety deficiencies at the same time.
- Connect each new accessible home to in-home supports through the assisted living coordinator, so care starts when the household moves in.
Where does a builder fit in?
A builder turns your design standard into drawings and specifications, so the most useful thing you can do is hand over a clear list of accessible and adaptable features before pricing starts. Herauf Modular builds homes and community buildings as finished sections indoors in its Saskatchewan and BC plants, then delivers and sets them on site. Most builds are manufactured and delivered in about 16 weeks, with foundations, pads and services prepared on site at the same time, and every unit meets or exceeds CSA A277 and the National Building Code for climate zones 6 through 8. You can read more about how modular homes reach Indigenous communities.
Herauf does not administer funding, apply on a community's behalf or decide eligibility; those conversations stay with ISC, CMHC and your housing office. If you are planning Elder or accessible housing and want to talk through layouts and specifications, send an enquiry. Herauf replies within one business day.
This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. Program rules change: confirm the details with the program, your Indigenous Services Canada regional office or CMHC before relying on them. Herauf does not administer any program or apply on a community's behalf.