Upload the municipal co-ops
What is the problem?
The Social Housing Reform Act, passed in 2000, put in place a lot of very complicated rules that make no allowance for important differences in how co-ops and other non-profits operate. The Act also shifted responsibility for program administration and funding from the Province to municipalities.
The arrangement has not worked well for co-ops or the municipal service managers that work with them. Here’s why: Housing co-operatives are the only form of resident-controlled non-profit housing in Ontario. They operate within a different legal framework — both corporate and landlord-tenant. The SHRA has stripped away member control. Many advantages of the co-operative model of mutual self-help are being lost.
Service managers face many challenges and are hard pressed to deal with the differences between co-ops and other parts of the social housing portfolios that they administer.
What is the solution?
The Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (Ontario Region) has been working with provincial and municipal politicians around the province to gain support for a proposal to upload the SHRA co-ops to the province.
Key features of this proposal are:
- Return the cost and control of co-operative housing to the provincial level.
- Amend the Social Housing Reform Act (SHRA) to create a more effective and accountable program.
- Enter into an agreement with the Agency for Co-operative Housing to administer a reformed program.
For more information about the CHF Ontario campaign visit the Stronger Together pages of the CHF Canada web site