Logo - CHF Canada

CHF Canada budget submission calls for $50 million in federal land for co-op development

Published October 31, 2018

The balcony of a co-op building against a blue sky, with text reading "Pre-budget submission 2019: Building the foundation for a competitive and inclusive economy"This fall, CHF Canada submitted a list of recommendations to the House of Commons Finance committee as a part of the government’s consultations in advance of the federal government’s 2019 budget.

Our primary recommendation for the 2019 budget is for the Government of Canada to transfer $50 million in land to support the growth of co-op housing.

The National Housing Strategy released last fall outlined the federal government’s intent to transfer up to $200 million in surplus federal land to housing providers “to encourage the development of sustainable, accessible, mixed-income … communities.” Our recommendation is for one quarter of the available land to build on our decades-tested co-op model of affordable housing.

Our message to government is clear: we’re ready to build new, permanently-affordable, community-oriented co-op homes today!

We are also continuing the fight to bring co-ops who came out of their operating agreements before April 2016 into the broader solution to protect low-income households. The most cost-efficient way of providing deeply-affordable homes to vulnerable Canadians is to partner with these co-ops – the buildings have already been built, and the communities are robust.

For more information, please contact CHF Canada Program Manager, Policy and Government Relations, Douglas Wong at dwong@chfcanada.coop


Don't miss out on the latest co-op news, success stories, and helpful resources for your co-op. Sign up here to receive our eNews every two weeks straight to your inbox!