People Over Profits: A new Co-operative Housing Program
By Contributor
By the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada
Today, the federal government launched a new Co‑operative Housing Development Program to support a new generation of co-op housing in Canada and help make housing more affordable.
For decades, co-ops have provided Canadians with secure, affordable, and community-oriented homes. The new $1.5 billion program – co-designed with the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada and other leaders in the co-op sector – will provide loans and contributions to build and grow co-ops across Canada. This is the largest investment to build new co-op housing in the last 30 years.
The program will build thousands of new co-op homes by 2028. Projects that focus on providing homes for those most in need will be prioritized.
Co-op housing providers will be able to apply for funding starting on July 15, 2024, and the first intake round will remain open until September 15, 2024. Additional intake opportunities will be announced at a later date. To start preparing an application and to receive updates, please visit the Co-operative Housing Development webpage.
The Co-operative Housing Development Program will help increase the number of affordable homes in Canada and grow the community housing sector faster so that low- and middle-income Canadians have a safe and affordable place to call home. Investments like this will address housing pressures across the country, so that future generations have the same opportunity to rent or own a place of their own as generations that came before them.
The Co-operative Housing Development Program is the first dedicated federal investment in the construction of co-operative housing in over 30 years. Delivered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the program will consist of approximately $500 million in contributions and $1 billion in loans to build co-ops across Canada. Projects that support the creation of Indigenous-led co-operative housing will be eligible.
CHF Canada is a member-owned and operated co-operative, committed to ensuring the program’s success through decades of expertise, deep connections with its members and strong linkages to other sector leaders and organizations, especially regional co-operative housing federations. We will work to ensure this program is a further step in growing the development capacity of the co-operative housing sector.
Co-operative housing was part of how Canada addressed its housing needs in the 1970s and 1980s. The co-ops that were built decades ago provide affordable, secure homes to a quarter of a million Canadians today. Now, facing another housing crisis, co-ops are once again ready and able to build, with the investments coming from this new program.
“The launch of the Co-operative Housing Development Program will kickstart the development of the next generation of co-operative housing. More individuals and families will be able to access the security, affordability and inclusion that co-operative housing offers,” stated CHF Canada’s Executive Director, Tim Ross.
“Dedicated investment in co-operative housing acknowledges its unique value in providing not only affordable homes, but also in nurturing strong communities where people of different incomes and backgrounds are welcomed,” added Cassia Kantrow, CHF Canada’s Board President.
“Having a secure home in a supportive community made all the difference for me when I was a young single parent. Co-operative housing changes lives, and I am overjoyed that more people will be able to have what I had, thanks to the Co-operative Housing Development Program.”
“By focusing on people over profits, co-operative housing is able to keep housing affordable for the long term. This is the largest investment in co-op housing in 30 years. It will help build thousands of new homes and create a new generation of co-operative housing across Canada,” stated the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities.
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