Wiser • Crafting Community

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Competent. creative. committed.

Crafting Community Development through Collaboration

Wiser Projects and Development Society embraces development and community planning projects of all sizes to realize their goals in the public, private, Indigenous and non-profit sectors.

Our People

We are a women-owned and led planning and development company. Our B-corp certification and affiliated non-profit organization (Wiser Development Society) demonstrate our continued commitment to social, environmental, fiscal, and corporate responsibility and transparency. We are not investors in our projects but the biggest cheerleaders and champions of them.

what

Crafting Community Development through Collaboration

Need help scoping out the scale of your project? Generating ideas about the next use of your property, aging asset, or new project? Identifying value-aligned partners to support the design and construction of your project? Understanding the local planning and cultural context? Our development management team is always seeking projects to support.

Project Planning & Management

We can start wherever you are – with an existing project or with a simple scope of work for your project to ensure your work is done in a way that meets your current and potential future needs. Feasibility analyses, business plans, capital and operating budgets, partnership agreements, municipal approvals? We have experience in the entire life-cycle of project planning and execution.

We thrive of building trust-based and value-aligned relationships. Transparency and collaboration are key to realizing project and community success.

Consultation & Engagement

Development projects of any size require community, Indigenous, and stakeholder consultation. Let us help you determine the most appropriate and effective ways to connect with those impacted and interested in your project. As professional planners, we understand the regulatory requirements for consultation and engagement and best practices.

In 2021-2023, we undertook over five dozen virtual, in-person and hybrid engagement events for our projects during pre-development and application review.

Funding, Financing & Investing

We are experienced with a wide variety of funders and financers including BC Housing, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), Green Municipal Fund, credit unions, and conventional lenders. We can help turn your back of the envelop budget into detailed capital and operating budgets, determine appropriate rents, and develop the proformas required to receive the financing you need. We are also experienced and successful in the initial grants required to assist your project in moving from concept to the financing stage.

In 2021-2023, we accessed over 70M in non-repayable grants for our clients and over 150M in financing.

Community & Comprehensive Planning

As accredited planners and project managers, we can assist with navigating Indigenous and non-Indigenous, municipal, provincial and federal regulatory and permitting requirements for the social, environmental, design and financial components of your project. We can provide guidance on requirements and best practices for all of your planning and development needs: housing needs assessments, policies and procedures, age-friendly assessments, rezonings, development permits, building permits, public hearings, and environmental approvals.

In 2021-2023, we submitted municipal applications for over 1250 units of housing across Vancouver Island.

Strategic Planning & Asset Management

We can develop staff, stakeholder, and community training and education programs for your organization and project. We strive to build in-house capacity for clients through all the work we do.
Strategic planning, visioning, goal and objective setting are all necessary first steps before undertaking a project of any scale.

In 2021-2023, we supported over fifteen non-profit entities with strategic planning, asset management, and organizational development work.

ShareSpace

We have noticed many of our community partners being displaced or in desperate need of additional space for their growing programming and operational needs. This ShareSpace is one of our ways to support this need.

This rentable Shared Space is in our building on Dunedin Street, Victoria and aims to provide flexible, accessible, and affordable programming and gathering space for our non-profit community.

Perfect for classes, programming, hybrid meetings, community gatherings and celebrations, intimate and large board meetings, the space can accommodate many needs.

Now available for full or part-time rental starting June 1, 2024!

Check availability or find out more

Why

Because it takes all of us to realize current and future housing and community needs.
Because we believe that our community housing and social service sectors need transparent, informed, and reliable guidance, support, and partners to be sustainable.
Because our shared lived experiences and knowledge can support increased capacity, empathy, and security in housing.
Because losing community held land and assets is not an option for us to create an equitable housing environment for all.
Because we believe in Housing First.

What People Have To Say

“Great Social Entrepreneurs, Go Getters for the not for profit housing sector.”

A. Moore

“Such great work and people – so attentive and comprehensive – all with a real smile.”

D. Budd

“A great experience working with Kaeley and her team. Very professional, would highly recommend.”

C. Lancey

“Kaeley has over a decade of experience and dedication in the industry and has completed countless projects in both private and public sectors. Highly recommend Wiser Projects for the experience, organization, and expertise they provide, all of which is imperative in the planning and development industry.”

J. Craig

“If you are looking for a Development Project Manager look no further than Wiser Projects! The team are all amazing to deal with. They are organized and will get your project on track and keep it that way. Working as a non-profit we appreciated their knowledge and skill of working with all the different government factions.”

S. Finneron

“Kaeley and Jordon are truly amazing people to work with. Always responds promptly and has a great way to make me feel at ease. I have enjoyed working with them and feel very confident is recommending this team to anyone.”

C. Wright

“Jordan and Kaeley have gone the extra mile on our project even though it has been a very complicated project to deal with. [They] work very hard on making connections and this has been the one thing that has worked… [the] are committed to seeing this project through even with all the set-backs and supporting me in every way she can. I couldn’t have found anyone more supportive than the Wiser team.”

Christine Wright

Executive Director of Duncan Housing Society

“Kaeley is a highly organized and efficient manager who brings with her a highly valued business lens. She provides strategic direction around province-wide planning and housing projects, linking internal capacity with new opportunities. Kaeley demonstrates a strong ability to evaluate cost effectiveness – she often streamlines processes to enhance efficiencies, reducing time and costs associated with projects, which has proven to greatly benefit a range of clients.”

Ex-staff member and client

“Wiser’s response to our [work] indicated a keen understanding of the potential impact of our legislation and how important good guidance will be to successful implementation. We were also happy to hire folks who had actually been through the process of trying to develop housing and had good connections with planners and architects who were also working in this space.”

British Columbia Ministry of Housing

“Wiser Projects has invested the time to understand our organization’s vision of culturally supportive housing and they incorporate that knowledge in their approach to the work.”

Brielyn Ramsey

Director of Operations for the Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness

How

We prioritize socially-minded, respectful, inclusive, and community-oriented clients and projects. We firmly believe that collaboration, transparency, and knowledge sharing is what makes us and our projects better, together.

We strongly believe transparent knowledge and resourcing sharing, capacity building within and across sectors, and deep engagement and consultation is critical to a project’s success.
Our mission is to service the full development spectrum, from vision to reality
We support board and staff capacity building for the next time – within your organization and the community at large.
We meet organizations where they are at, by picking appropriate resources and services to fill capacity gaps.
We have a demonstrated, successful approach that is customized for each board, region, funder, and needs.
Project management is the heart of our business.
We work with respect and humility with our Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners, understanding we are settlers on the lands we work and live. We strive to learn about, respect, and elevate cultural protocols throughout our work.