Solving the Housing Crisis Requires More Than Building More Homes

From Ramp’s 2025 Impact Report: affordable housing

Canada’s housing shortage gets talked about primarily as a supply problem. Build more homes, the argument goes, and affordability will follow. But anyone working in the housing sector knows the picture is more complicated. Supply alone does not determine who gets housed, under what conditions, or at what cost. Genuine affordability depends on the policy frameworks governments put in place, the feasibility work that helps non-profit organizations get projects off the ground, and the research and innovation that tests new approaches and builds the evidence base for change. These are not peripheral to solving the housing crisis. They are central to it.

SHS has been doing that work for 25 years. A multidisciplinary consulting firm specializing in affordable housing strategy, development, and policy research, they operate across three practice areas that are distinct but deeply connected. Their Development practice supports non-profit housing providers through the full lifecycle of affordable housing projects, from initial feasibility through to occupancy. Their Policy practice works with governments at every level to develop evidence-based housing strategies, needs assessments, and policy frameworks. And their Innovation practice uses human-centred design, solutions labs, and systems analysis to help organizations prototype and launch new housing, service, and program models — the kind of work that questions existing approaches and designs better ones.

Together, those three areas give SHS an unusually complete view of the housing ecosystem. 

The challenge was that from the outside, that depth and breadth was not always easy to see.

When SHS came to Ramp, their visual identity had not kept pace with the organization they had become. The brand needed to reflect both the integrated nature of their work and the distinct expertise each practice area brings. Ramp conducted qualitative interviews with SHS staff, clients, partners, and municipal representatives to understand how the organization was perceived and where the gaps were. The resulting brand identity was built around the idea of intersection, the possibilities that emerge when development, policy, and innovation work together. The new logo features a custom typeface with a subtle nod to housing in its negative space, and a sub-brand system that gives each practice area its own identity while keeping them visually connected.

For organizations like SHS, brand clarity is not cosmetic. When you are working with governments, funders, and non-profit housing providers to shape systems and policy, being clearly understood is part of the work.

SHS is one of the affordable housing organizations featured in Ramp’s 2025 Impact Report.

Read the full case study or explore the 2025 Impact Report to see more of the work.