About Four Pillars Community Housing
We help homeowners add homes, help nonprofits and communities scale projects, and help investors and governments back measurable housing outcomes—through transparent, accountable models.
Our Vision
Thousands of Canadians working together to build tens of thousands of homes—through community investment, small-scale development, and repeatable delivery models that strengthen communities for generations.
Our Mission
We mobilize what Canadians already have—land, savings, and collective will—to help communities build more homes. Four Pillars Community Housing provides the practical pathways, project support, and innovative financing models to turn local intent into delivered housing.
Unique Value Proposition
We train REALTORS® as Community Housing Ambassadors and offer a community focused development services hub for ADUs, Multiplexes, and Mixed-use, Multi-family housing development. —supported by modern tools like AI and AR.
Competitive Advantage
Building Solutions, Not Just Buildings
Four Pillars Community Housing CCC Inc, a Community Contribution Company, in its articles of incorporation commits to directing a minimum of 60% of distributed profits to qualified housing charities and nonprofit housing providers—so when we succeed, communities benefit in a measurable way.
How We’re Different
Traditional housing delivery gets stuck on three pressure points: land, financing, and time-to-approval. Our approach helps reduce all three—and adds a fourth: revenue generating models that support long-term viability.
We don’t just build projects—we build local capacity: training Community Housing Ambassadors, educating community investors, supporting homeowners, and partnering with nonprofits, developers, and governments to unlock underused assets already sitting in communities.
What this means for you
Homeowners: add a home with trusted guidance.
Nonprofits: scale delivery capacity.
Governments: accelerate outcomes. Investors: back transparent, accountable impact.
Pillar 1: – Zero Cost Land
There are numerous sources of zero cost land:
- Non-Profit Housing Providers, faith groups.
- Homeowners that can now add secondary suites or multiplex developments on their property.
- Companies that have landholdings that could be joint ventured to include affordable housing.
- Municipal, provincial and federal land.
Pillar 2: Below Market Financing
Canadians have trillions in RRSP and TFSA accounts. If one percent of that money was leveraged for new, affordable housing we can build our way out of the crisis. Our target bond rate is two percent and we project that half of the bond purchasers will donate the interest back to the issuer.
Pillar 3: Expedited Delivery
Pillar 4: Revenue Generation
Unfortunately, even with the first three pillars it is almost impossible to deliver affordable housing in our major urban centres without revenue generation. New approaches and new models need to be deployed to ensure that affordable housing projects can cash flow and be sustainable over the long-term.
Opportunity: Unlocking Housing Potential While Supporting Communities
Non-profits, faith groups, charities hold billions of dollars in land and property, offering tremendous potential for redevelopment into higher-density housing. These organizations have a unique opportunity to transform their underutilized assets into vibrant, inclusive communities that address housing shortages and create lasting impact.
SOLUTION: Create a scalable model for Interim Residences that can house existing tenants during redevelopment. One third of the units at below market, one third at mid and near market and the last third to generate revenue to ensure sustainability. Revenue generation will be different for each development but could include, for example, an Indigenous Arts & Culture Hotel, workplace and student housing, office and community space rentals and short/medium term extended stay rentals.
With the new housing legislation allowing for gentle density on residential property. In BC there are +one million potential sites to add secondary suites, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU -laneway/carriage homes) and Multiplex homes. (Duplex, Triplex and up to Sixplex in Transit Oriented Areas (TOA).
Why all four pillars matter
Each pillar reduces a different failure point. Together, they turn housing from “hard to fund and slow to deliver” into a model that communities can repeat, scale, and stand behind.
If you’re a…
- Homeowner: we help you evaluate and deliver extra homes on your property with a clear path.
- Nonprofit / community landowner: we help you scale self-sustaining projects with practical delivery and financing structure.
- Investor: we help you fund housing outcomes with transparent, accountable models.
- Government: we help convert policy intent into delivered units through repeatable delivery pathways.
First Step: Launching ‘I Invest in Housing’
Four Pillars has been awarded a CMHC (National Housing Strategy) SolutonsLab ‘I Invest in Housing’, a market research and community outreach campaign designed to explore community bond rates and terms, and homeowner interest in placing Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)/Multiplexes on their properties. As part of this initiative, we are building a Coalition of the Concerned—a network of individuals, organizations, and stakeholders committed to tackling housing challenges in our communities. Please join us.
Meet Our Team
Four Pillars Community Housing was founded by two housing and real estate veterans who saw the same challenge from different angles—and built a practical model to help communities deliver more homes.
Joseph MacLean - Co-Founder
Joseph MacLean is a social entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience advancing community housing and social enterprise models built to last. As lead consultant at Vancouver Native Housing Society (now BC Indigenous Housing Society), Joseph helped pioneer Skwachàys Lodge Residence—a unique Indigenous social enterprise that combines an 18-room boutique hotel and street-level gallery that provided the ongoing subsidy for 24 artist live/work studios. Joseph has led projects valued at $40+ million in the Social Purpose Real Estate sector. He co-founded Four Pillars Community Housing to scale proven approaches that combine strong partnerships with earned-revenue capacity—improving long-term stability without requiring ongoing government funding.
Role focus: Social enterprise design, partnerships, and scaling strategies.
Larry Traverence - Co-Founder
Larry Traverence is Vice President, Commercial Division at Dexter Realty and brings decades of hands-on experience at the intersection of real estate operations and community housing. His work includes deep frontline exposure in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where as Managing Broker of Archer Realty, he managed several hundred SRO units for BC Housing, working directly with private landlords and nonprofit providers. That experience gave him a clear view of how easily existing housing can be lost—and how important it is to preserve stock while creating scalable new models.
Today, Larry supports nonprofit housing providers pursuing acquisitions through BC Housing’s Rental Protection Fund and helps advance delivery pathways for ADUs, Multiplexes, and interim housing approaches. He co-founded Four Pillars to bring real-world operational expertise into a model communities can replicate—turning local intent into delivered homes, one project at a time.
Role focus: Real estate operations, acquisitions, delivery pathways, and community ambassador mobilization.
Rebecca Sorbara
Director of Community Construction and Site Development
Rebecca brings over 20 years of experience delivering residential and commercial projects from concept to completion. With deep expertise in site planning, construction operations, and scalable delivery models, she ensures each Four Pillars community is built efficiently, sustainably, and with lasting impact.
Ryan RIngler
Director of Business Development,
Ryan is a self-described housing savant. Ryan brings deep insight into the housing industry and construction methodology. His experience in modular technologies, construction management and business development provides a unique skill set to the leadership team.
Community Housing Ambassadors - A Much Bigger Team
REALTORS® are taking a leadership role as Community Housing Ambassadors to help simplify and de-risk the development process for citizen and non-profit development. We draw on the expertise of the 26,000 licensed BC REALTORS® to help communities begin ‘Building Solutions to the Housing Crisis.’
Together, Building the Future
Four Pillars Community Housing CCC Inc. was created to be part of the solution. The team’s combined expertise—Joseph’s social enterprise innovation and Larry’s operational real estate knowledge combined with Rebecca and Ryan’s decades long experience in the construction industry forms the foundation of a model that’s both visionary and practical, aspirational and achievable.