Fort St. John entrepreneur announces plan for new home ownership benefit company

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A Fort St. John entrepreneur would like to do more for the community – specifically help residents buy a new home and establish roots.

Jordan Soggie, who is also the executive director of the Fort St. John Association for Community Living (FSJACL), announced plans for a new, separate endeavour named Homeway Benefits earlier this month not linked to the FSJACL. 

He spoke to Energeticcity.ca about the venture, saying a Kickstarter to raise $100,000 to make the platform scalable is soon to launch.

Prior to working for FSJACL, Soggie worked with the housing authority in Moose Jaw, Sask.

“Over the last five years, I’ve had a personal project of trying to find a solution to help working Canadians become homeowners and overcome the barrier of a down payment,” said Soggie. “I always saw people would get into social housing [or] subsidized housing, and then they would never be able to get [enough for a down payment].

“I think the ability to save up that five per cent plus the taxes and everything else that they have to come up with on the wage that they live off of, [with] the expenses that people have today, makes it difficult for them to save up that down payment.”

Data from Statistics Canada show in 2020 the median income of residents in Fort St. John was $91,000 after taxes.  Further information from the BC Northern Real Estate Board shows the average price of a home in Fort St. John is over $400,000.

Despite the high median household income, Soggie says the cost of living and other barriers prevent home ownership.

“If you’re a parent and you’re paying for childcare, and you’re paying for everything else you have to pay for to have a quality of life,” said Soggie. “It’s hard to be able to save that five per cent plus the property transfer tax.”

Soggie’s new model is structured as a joint contribution plan. An employee would sign a three-year retention contract with their employer, a company registered with Homeway Benefits. 

The employee would then contribute eight per cent per pay cheque into a savings pot, which their employer would match.

After three years, the price of a home and all applicable taxes could be saved. In structuring the plan, Soggie looked at the National Popular Housing Fund program in Mexico. 

Established in 1981, lower-income families seeking mortgages could apply. With just a four per cent investment required for a down payment, the program provided 23 per cent of all new housing by public funds between 1982 and 1998.

“I’ve basically taken that model and re-targeted it towards the workplace,” said Soggie. “We have a housing crisis, but we also have a workforce crisis. So, putting those two problems together, we’re able to come up with a solution that helps with both.”

Soggie said the Homeway Benefits model is the subject of a case study with the University of Toronto, and he is seeking a group of ‘champion employers’ who will be the first in northeast B.C. to offer this benefit.

For further information on Homeway Benefits, visit the company’s website