Your Journey, Our Mission.

Michael Gilgan - Founder

Hello, I’m Michael Gilgan, the founder and vision behind The Homing Project. My journey to this project has been a lifetime in the making.

As the grandson of settler-pioneers in northern BC, I’ve had a diverse range of experiences. From hunting, trapping and mink ranching in my youth, working as a BC Ambulance attendant, and as a realtor in my northern BC hometown, to starting a fashion import company in Vancouver, driving a taxi, and managing a landscaping company catering to the elite of North and West Vancouver, before settling in Kamloops to build an IT company. These experiences offered me a unique view of society, from its lowest to its highest echelons, and everything in between.

My awareness of the real estate industry and its drivers intensified when I became a realtor at age 21, right after the real estate collapse of the early '80s. This awareness grew further when I moved to Vancouver and later Kamloops during the real estate rush fueled by baby boomers, expanding immigration, and a thriving consumer economy.

Over the years, I’ve lived in various places - from small town, rural BC, to 15 years in the suburbs of Kamloops, a small ocean-worthy sailboat, a cabin in the forest, a 30-foot motorhome, an apartment in Logan Lake, to summers in a custom camperized minivan. In 2021, we sold our third sailboat, and for fun, ventured to Saskatchewan on a personal challenge: to find an affordable house. And we did. We bought a beautiful little house for just $1,000. This journey made me realize that not everyone has the capacity to envision, seek, and find a home for $1,000, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to own a home.

Canada is currently facing a housing crisis, with thousands homeless and millions struggling to pay high rents and mortgages. My experience tells me that given the opportunity, many would be ready, willing, and able to live small. The Homing Project aims to provide this opportunity, allowing Canadians to live small if they choose to, thereby freeing up housing inventory for those who wish to continue in mainstream housing.

The Homing Project is not about giving people free homes and not just about removing homelessness from the streets. It’s about empowering people to own a home without needing to participate in a real estate market that makes home ownership unattainable for those who don’t want to be real estate speculators. It’s about rewarding and incentivizing truly sustainable living. It’s about creating a place, for people who prefer small living, to exist. It’s about rethinking community in the modern era.

Reflecting on my past experiences gives me a profound understanding and appreciation for the concept of home. I’ve come to realize that if a person wants to live in a small home, they should absolutely have that option. They directly benefit society by using and requiring less. Their decision to go small should be incentivized. Conversations with a wonderful man, Christopher Buchner, who shares similar principles, inspired me to act upon this idea. Together, we aim to solve a pressing problem in our society: People haven’t got a place to call their own.