"Meaning of Home" student contest
What does home mean to you?
That's the question the national "Meaning of Home" writing contest asks Grade 4, 5 and 6 students across Canada every year. A poem, an essay, a few hundred words.But every entry does more than build a student's writing skills. It raises awareness among young people about housing inequality. Each entry also becomes a real donation: a concrete way for students to give back to their community, to help build affordable homes right here in Quebec. For a class, it's a ready-to-use creative writing activity, aligned with the curriculum.
What it brings to your class
It supports several language arts curriculum objectives:
- Developing critical, independent thinking
- Writing for a specific purpose and audience
- Expressing personal reflections and opinions
- Using correct grammar, spelling and punctuation
- Practising editing and revision skills
To start the discussion in class, the question "What does home mean to you?" can bring up ideas like: stability, security, shelter, accessibility, comfort, health, community, family, memories, the future.
Habitat for Humanity Canada provides a free teaching kit to registered teachers, including 6 ready-to-use lesson plans, learning activities and tools (word searches, etc.) and printable posters.
What sets this contest apart from other writing exercises is that students see the concrete impact of their work: their entry becomes a real donation, used to build homes in their own community.
How it works
The contest is open to Grade 4, 5 and 6 students across Canada. A poem or essay (50 to 300 words), in English or French, answering the question: "What does home mean to you?"
What each entry earns:
- All eligible entries: a $10 donation to Habitat for Humanity Quebec
- 3 grand prize winners (one per grade level): a $30,000 grant to Habitat for Humanity Quebec if the student is from Quebec, plus an iPad and a pizza party for the class
- 9 finalists (three per grade level): a $10,000 grant, plus the same class prizes
The impact of an entry: beyond the donation
But the money raised is only part of the story: becoming an affordable homeowner changes families' lives in concrete ways.
According to a Deloitte study conducted for Habitat for Humanity Canada with more than 600 partner households, families who achieve affordable homeownership report:
- 83% an improvement in their happiness
- 79% an improvement in their mental health
- 73% an improvement in their physical health
- 50% better school results for their children
- 44% an improvement in their employment situation
- 50% an improvement in their financial security
Homeowners' average income ends up nearly 30% higher than it would have been had they stayed renters. Across the country, these socioeconomic benefits inject $35.7 million a year into the Canadian economy.
In other words: a student's entry isn't just $10. It's a contribution to a chain of impact that touches a local family's health, education, employment and financial security, for years to come.
Why it matters especially in Quebec
The affordable housing crisis directly affects families here:
- 92% of Quebecers recognize there is a shortage of affordable housing in Canada (Léger, 2024)
- 85% of Quebecers believe buying a home has become a luxury
- 47% of Quebec households spend 50% or more of their income on housing costs
- 305,000 Quebec households are in core housing need (CMHC)
Habitat for Humanity Quebec is the only Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Quebec. Every donation the contest generates in the province stays in Quebec, for families here.
Local students who made a difference
- Léah C., Grade 6 student at École Côte-Saint-Luc in Montreal, national grand prize winner ($30,000 grant for Habitat for Humanity Quebec) in 2024
- Noa B., Grade 5 student at École Maïmonide Montreal, finalist ($10,000 grant for Habitat for Humanity Quebec) in 2025
- Jeremy S., Grade 5 student at Académie Marie-Laurier in Brossard, finalist ($10,000 grant for Habitat for Humanity Quebec) in 2026
Key dates for the 2027 edition
- Teacher registration: starting October 2026
- Contest opens: January 4, 2027
- Contest closes: February 19, 2027
- Judging: February to May 2027
- Winners announced: May 2027