Community Roundtable: Faith Lands Initiative
What could our shared spaces become?
A community roundtable · Hosted by Reframe Concepts
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Tuesday, November 17, 2026
Coffee and registration from 8:30 am. Event ends at 3:00 pm. -
9:00 am to 3:00 pm
Coffee and lunch included -
Metro Hub, Ellis Street
Kelowna, BC · Get directions
In partnership with:
I'm coming as
The Opportunity
Faith buildings already carry much of community life. Many are close to being lost.
Food banks, childcare, recovery groups, concerts, a warm room in winter. A great deal of the care in our neighbourhoods happens in buildings owned by communities of faith, often on land that has been held in trust for generations.
Across the country, those communities are discovering that their people, their purpose and the land entrusted to them can be reframed toward lasting good. This day is about possibility. It brings the people who own the land, the people who fund projects and the people who approve them into one room, early, before anyone has committed to a path.
| The future of our shared spaces is a possibility to be stewarded.
Sacred Spaces, Civic Value · 2025
1 in 3
of Canada's roughly 27,000 faith buildings could close permanently this decade.
$15.5B
in estimated value that active places of worship create for the communities around them.
“Hampered by a lack of experience in asset management, real estate development, and community partnerships, faith leadership can be ill‑equipped to pursue redevelopment options, or unsure of whether to do so.”
Canadian Urban Institute, Sacred Spaces, Civic Value (2025), citing National Trust for Canada (2019).
Who it's for
Every seat at this table brings something the others need.
Faith communities hold land in established neighbourhoods. Funders hold the capital that gets projects started. Cities hold the tools that make projects possible. Choose your seat to see what the day offers you.
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Find new homes on land that's already in established neighbourhoods.
Faith properties often sit near transit, schools and services, owned by groups whose purpose is to serve their neighbours. Many of those owners have never worked through zoning or approvals. Early guidance from a city can turn a stalled idea into a real application.
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Meet the projects early, while patient capital still shapes the outcome.
Projects on faith land tend to stall at the very start, when a congregation needs feasibility studies, design and legal advice before anything can be financed. That early stage is where modest funding does the most good, and where credible opportunities are hardest to find.
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Keep your mission at the centre, and see what your land could make possible.
Many boards carry the weight of an aging building and a tight budget, and every option can look like loss. Congregations across the country are finding another way, staying rooted in place while their land serves far more people.
Tuesday, October 6 · Metro Hub
Times are approximate and may shift slightly.
The day at a glance
8:30: Arrive, connect and settle in.
Coffee and registration
Welcome and land acknowledgement
9:00: Grounding the day in place and gratitude.
Lunch
11:30 A shared table.
Roundtable three · The Civic Table
2:00 Faith and city, building together.
9:20: The good already happening, and what becomes possible.
Signs of hope
9:35 How the Faith Lands Affordable Housing Incentive came together.
Keynote: the Edmonton context
10:30 Seeing land and buildings as a gift held in trust.
Roundtable one · Reframing Faith Lands
12:30 A national movement and new models for community housing.
Roundtable two · Funding the Future
1:00 Investing in community on faith properties.
Featured presentation
3:00 Next steps and new partnerships.
Close and thanks
Every roundtable mixes voices from faith, philanthropy and the public sector, so each conversation is worth hearing whichever seat you take. Speakers and panelists will be announced here as they're confirmed.
Reserve your seat
Seats are limited so the day. When you register, tell us which table you're coming from and we'll shape the room around who's in it.
All three roundtables, the keynote and the featured presentation
Morning coffee and a shared lunch
Time to meet landowners, funders and planners face to face
Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at Metro Hub, Ellis Street, Kelowna
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