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Getting Started

Getting Started

CHF Canada encourages our members to contact us to learn more about how our services can help you to get started.

Long term planning and renewal may seem overwhelming at first but the good news is that we can help you through it by showing you where to start.  A number of reports are going to be needed right from the beginning.

Preservation Funding: Most co-ops can apply to have some or all of the required reports paid for through a special fund established by CMHC. We can help you get started on the application and give you some guidance about the kind of reports that you may need.

Getting a Building Condition Assessment (BCA):  If your co-op doesn’t have a BCA  carried out by a professional engineering firm or it is out of date (more than three years old) our team at CHF Canada can help you commission one.  The building condition assessment is the first and, in many ways, the fundamental report that forms the foundation for long term planning and finance.

Asset Management Plan (AMP): Once the BCA is in place and reviewed by the co-op it is time to turn those numbers into plans that make sense to the co-op.  See here for more information about CHF Canada’s Asset Planning Services.  

Other Reports:  Depending on what you find out through the BCA and AMP, there may be other reports needed. For example, you may decide to order a  report that looks more closely at drainage problems, retaining walls, or energy savings. If the AMP recommends that the co-op look into refinancing, it may be time to order up an appraisal and environmental site assessment.

Regulators/Program Managers: A co-op with a federal agreement may need approval for short term capital plans from the Agency for Co-operative Housing. There also may be some cases where co-ops will need to obtain approval from the Agency. CMHC or a provincial or municipal (Ontario) regulator to refinance.  You should contact us and we will let you know what you need to do.

CHF Canada and Newmarket Co-op have always had a great relationship and we are forever grateful to them for that and for all their support in our refinancing journey and whatever may lay ahead. - Mandy Lord, board member, Newmarket Housing Co-operative, Newmarket ON