With all ballots counted, we know that Canada’s 45^th Parliament will be led by a Liberal minority government.  CHF BC is looking forward to working with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new government to address the priorities of the co-op and broader community housing sectors.  We congratulate new and returning MPs from all parties and thank everyone who put their name forward to serve their communities across Canada.

As the voice of the co-op housing sector in BC, we kept a close eye on ridings with large concentrations of co-op homes, particularly Vancouver Fraserview – South Burnaby, Vancouver East, Burnaby Central, and Vancouver Granville.  All four elected MPs who expressed a commitment during the campaign to support co-op and non-profit housing.

Making his return to elected office after a seven-year absence is former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson, who succeeded Harjit Sajjan as MP in Vancouver Fraserview – South Burnaby.  During his time in the mayor’s chair, Robertson championed the emergence of CHF BC’s Community Land Trust, kicking off a strong decade of growth in the co-op housing sector.

After more than a month of meeting candidates and advocating for community-based housing, it’s time for co-ops and our partners in the community housing sector to hold the government accountable for its housing promises.  The best place to start is Housing Central’s Build More, Protect More Action Plan, which includes the following calls to action:

• Increase support for the $1.47 billion Canada Rental Protection Fund, Ottawa’s strategy to help move purpose-built rental homes into the co-op and non-profit housing sectors
• Rapidly expand the delivery of Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous housing
• Fund a significant build out of non-profit and co-op homes affordable to household incomes under $50,000 and prevent homelessness by providing sustained funding for related support services
• Develop a national housing skills strategy to train workers and support faster construction.

Less than four per cent of Canada’s housing stock is non-profit community housing. That is less than half of the OECD and G7 average. Doubling that to at least eight per cent will have a significant positive impact on economic productivity and provide stable, affordable housing for hundreds of thousands more people in Canada.

We also look forward to working with our partners in government and at the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada to strengthen and expand the Federal Community Housing Initiative to keep co-op homes affordable for low-income households, and to expand the number of new homes delivered under the Federal Co-op Housing Development Program.

CHF BC’s members demonstrate every day that co-operative housing is a proven model for safe, secure, permanently affordable homes in strong, diverse, mixed-income communities. We look forward to working with you and with all levels of government to expand the co-op housing sector in BC and across Canada.