About Us

Make Housing Affordable is a pro-housing advocacy group started by Dean Tester and Grant Dingwall, two millennials living in Ottawa, Ontario.

We believe that housing is one of the most important issues of our generation, and we’re incredibly frustrated by inaction from all levels of government.

We believe there is a housing crisis in Canada, and politicians are making it worse — and we need to stand up and fight back if we want to make things better.

Our goal for this campaign (and hopefully future campaigns like it) is to change housing policies at all levels of government, to get more housing built in Canada, and to make housing affordable.

About Dean Tester

Dean Tester is President of testerdigital, an Ottawa-based digital marketing firm. He’s worked on political campaigns across Canada and is extremely motivated to work on housing issues because, like many millennials, he’s been priced out of the housing market despite being very successful in his career.

Dean also does a lot of work with animal rights advocacy, and volunteers with a children and youth mental health centre in Ottawa. He and his wife are hoping to purchase their first home soon, but they are hoping to make meaningful changes so that housing is more affordable for his friends and family looking for their first homes.

About Grant Dingwall

Grant Dingwall is Vice-President of testerdigital, an Ottawa-based digital marketing firm. Like Dean, he’s worked on many political campaigns across Canada, but Grant has the unique background of fighting a one-man lobby campaign against a huge industry — and winning! Grant spearheaded the Free My Booze campaign, which campaigned to have beer and alcohol sold in grocery stores and convenience stores, among other things.

Grant is a proud home-owner, but like many millennials, he and his wife had to live with parents for over a year to be able to save up and purchase a home — and that was before prices skyrocketed in Ottawa! He and his wife also just welcomed their first son to the world, and Grant is looking forward to fighting to make housing affordable for his generation.

Want to get involved?

We’re just getting started on advocating to make housing more affordable, and at some point soon we’ll likely need more help! If you want to get involved, want to provide us with information, or want to make a donation, please get in touch!