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Garage suites have been pitched as one way to create more affordable housing in mature areas. Homeowners add a rental suite to help pay a mortgage, while renters get more options in quiet neighbourhoods.

Salvador, a recent graduate from Dalhousie University’s College of Sustainability, got involved because of the social benefit. Half of the suites are rented to friends or family, often with backyard space shared and a well-worn path between the suite and the main house. The suites promote multi-generational living, said Salvador. “I love that aspect of it.”

Salvador knocked on 122 doors for her research and 72 owners agreed to fill out her survey. Of those, 72 per cent had a household income higher than $100,000 and 45 per cent of households earned more than $150,000.

Nearly half of the owners designed the suite themselves, 42 per cent did some or all of the construction and 18 per cent built it just for extra work or storage space.

Forty-five per cent paid for the unit out of savings, while 36 per cent used a home equity line of credit.

Garage suites are fairly new in Edmonton. They’ve only been allowed on any regular-sized mature neighbourhood lot since 2015 but, until Salvador’s research, little data existed about the people who built and occupied them.

Fong and Salvador have been running garage suite workshops, connecting interested residents with experts in finance, zoning and green building techniques. They have a sold-out garage suite tour this weekend and a meet-the-builder event May 13. But it’s a temporary campaign. Both are heading to the University of Waterloo this fall to study for for masters degrees in economics and planning respectively.