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CHF Canada Annual Report 2025
Deep Roots, Renewed Growth
Cassia Kantrow (she/her)
President
Tim Ross (he/him)
Chief Executive Officer
Dear co-operators,
2025 was a year marked by continued global conflict and economic uncertainty. Anxiety about the future seeped into hearts and minds across the country.
And yet, the co-operative housing model continues to offer security and community. It embeds inclusion and diversity so that people can flourish as their authentic selves. It shines a light on what kind of society we can have when mutual aid trumps mutual distrust.
Co-operative housing serves 250,000 people right across Canada – with co-op homes opening and even more under development over the past year.
Over the last year, CHF Canada focused on bolstering its services and support to members, to ensure co-ops and their members are secure well into the future.
We equally focused on enacting our vision of Co-op Housing for All, so that anyone who wishes to take on the responsibility and benefit of co-op housing membership can do so.
In this way, we are taking steps to create a future where the co-perative housing movement plays a role in putting Canada on a more connected, caring and secure path.
These steps take shape in CHF Canada’s new five-year strategic plan – where outreach and engagement took place over 2025 to ensure our movement’s passion, concern for community and readiness to grow are reflected in the vision and objectives of the strategic plan.
In the process, looking ahead started with reflecting on the past. What we found was that our movement stands on the shoulders of the giants who came before us: the visionaries, the rebels, those who sought safe haven. Those who saw a need and acted together to develop the co-operative communities that exist today.
Our new strategic plan sets out a path for us to act with the boldness and courage of our movement’s founders, while staying rooted in what they started. And so our next five years will be focused on three areas:
Catalyzing Ongoing Sector Growth
Empowering Co-operative Communities
Ensuring our membership federation is vibrant and democratic
We can’t wait to get to work with you, our members, partners and supporters, in turning this strategic plan into action.
Growth
From the spark of an idea in a housing co-op, to projects being developed through the Co-operative Housing Development Program, to the ribbon-cuttings announcing new and acquired homes – growth is not just a goal, it was happening over the course of 2025.
There are 2,787 new co-operative homes under development through the Co-operative Housing Development Program (CHDP), since it was launched in 2024!
Some of the first projects to receive CHDP funding have celebrated with groundbreaking ceremonies: from Linden Co-op in Perth, Ontario, The Cedars Co-op in Toronto, Valley Roots Highbury Road project and the Upper Hammonds Plains Co-op in Nova Scotia.
Growth is happening with the support of other programs, too, including these developments from coast to coast:
Sunshine Housing Co-op | British Columbia: The new development replaced the original 39 homes, and adds 30, increasing the co-op to 69 homes.
Otter Creek Co-op Homes | Ontario: Otter Creek built 18 new co-op homes and celebrated the opening this summer.
Sainte Josephine | Quebec: This fall in Gatineau, members started moving into the latest project of La Cité des Outaouais co-operative with a brand new building with 108 co-op homes.
The Range | New Brunswick : Officially opened this fall, the co-op acquired 180 homes, and then built four new accessible homes, and added insulation and heat pump conversions to bring down costs for members.
Unity North | Nova Scotia : This was the first new construction project for Compass Nova Scotia, a province-wide housing co-op comprised of ten neighbourhoods. Officially opened in October, Unity North adds 57 new homes to a Halifax community with strong African Nova Scotian and Indigenous cultural roots.
Growth is happening in many forms including acquisition, co-op conversion, mergers and amalgamations:
Sault Ste Marie: five housing co-ops in Sault Ste Marie have sought approval from their provincial regulators to merge after years of work and member consultation.
Island Unity Land Co-op | Prince Edward Island : this land co-op acquired 56 homes as part of a provincial pilot project to protect affordable housing. While they celebrate their first co-op homes, this is just the beginning.
Advocacy
Advocacy
The 2025 federal and Ontario elections provided opportunities to press the case for co-op housing. Through the Build Co-op Housing, Build a Better Future campaign, CHF Canada called on all parties to commit to more co-operative housing. With candidate meetings, town halls (Edmonton, Saint John, Toronto and Winnipeg) and social media outreach, the campaign highlighted co-op housing as both a solution to the housing crisis and a way to strengthen communities.
Following the federal election, we engaged new and returning Parliamentarians to familiarize them with the co-op housing model, especially highlighting the need for an immediate renewal of rental assistance and a fully funded Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy.
Advocacy for fair and affordable rental assistance was also prioritized with provincial governments where federal rental assistance is not available.
In Ontario, CHF Canada is advancing work on End of Mortgage, helping to secure viable service agreements in collaboration with federations. We secured provincial funds for asset and financial plans and have deferred payment for building condition assessments to help co-ops gain the information needed to negotiate new agreements with their local government regulator. Together, we are laying the groundwork for long-term sustainability while staying true to co-operative principles.
We partnered with United Way Greater Toronto to release Built for Good, a report that provides a powerful, practical plan to eliminate core housing need in the province by 2035, including by growing co-operative housing.
The launch of a new federal agency, Build Canada Homes, was also an important milestone, with CEO Tim Ross present when the Prime Minister and federal housing Minister announced this new agency.
Member Services & Support
Co-operative Housing Management Accreditation (CHMA)Program
In 2025, the new accreditation program grew to include all four core courses and a new co-op culture and living elective. Courses are available as self-directed, hybrid which combines self-directed with live online sessions and select courses in-person at the Annual Meeting.
Commercial Insurance and Risk Management
CHF Canada’s valued Commercial Insurance Program continues to attract high participation rates. We worked to provide greater awareness to our Cyber Guard insurance program, which aims to help with digital security challenges. We shared information on ways co-ops can improve practices to reduce risks. The Risk Management Program reached a new milestone, with a quarter of our insured members participating in the program. We launched Safer Together, a quarterly safety bulletin, to put tools and information into the hands of co-op staff and members.
The Indigenous Housing Leadership Group
The Indigenous Housing Leadership Group: Supported by CHF Canada, the group continues to pursue partnerships and development opportunities in southwestern Ontario to create for Indigenous, by Indigenous housing.
Asset and Financial Planning Services
To continue to provide quality homes for the long term, co-ops rely on our asset management and financial planning services. As of 2025, we have helped over 80 co-ops secure more than $300 million in funding to complete repairs and renovations.
Annual Meeting
More than 600 members, staff and sector leaders gathered in Toronto in June 2025 to learn, network and exchange ideas along the theme of building homes, changing lives. It included the first annual Indigenous gathering, dozens of workshops on a variety of themes, a virtual co-op tour and more. We honoured former President and Indigenous Communities Director Tina Stevens as an Honorary Lifetime Associate, and Emily Power of Caroline Co-op with the 2025 Co-op Champion Award.
Regional Education & Learning Exchanges
Regional education events in Regina, Winnipeg, Sudbury, London and Dartmouth fostered connections and shared problem-solving. We added new courses to our online learning system, revamped a keystone resource, Getting our co-op principles right and many new resources on mediation, starting a co-op and land co-operatives. Year-round, members participated in online discussions such as Monthly Member calls, Sharing Circles for staff and managers and the Aging in Place Exchange Network.
Staff and Board Members
CHF Canada’s Elected Board of Directors and Committees serve a vital role in our success and represent co-op voices across the country.
Staff
CHF Canada’s talented and hardworking staff team is dedicated to supporting our members and expanding co-op housing across Canada.
CHF Canada is dedicated to creating a positive work environment for our staff and we’re proud to once again be named Capital Region Top Employer in 2025.
Finances
CHF Canada benefits from a stable financial framework, which allows us to operate with confidence and in a manner that robustly meets member needs. Our current financial
position enables us to pursue more strategic initiatives, to grow co-operative housing over time.
Financials at December 31, 2025
$32,860,474
Total assets
$8,320,696
Operating revenues
$8,257,171
Operating expenses
$4,081,842
Operating fund balance
$9,073,352
Total reserves
$15,022,666
Endowment funds
Our past reports
Annual Report 2024