LATEST
NEWS

A well-informed membership makes the co-op housing movement stronger. Keep up-to-date on the latest CHF BC, and co-op housing related, goings-on by reading our latest news below. To get this news—and more— delivered directly to your inbox subscribe to our newsletters.

  29 November 2023   

New federal co-op investments welcome, but timeline is disappointing

In a CBC News story by Jon Hernandez, Thom Armstrong, the CEO of CHF BC called the measures "well-intended," but he raised alarm over the lack of a timeline, with dollars only starting to roll out in 2025.

He notes that "We’re in a housing crisis and is baffled as to why an economic recovery would have to wait until 2025-2026 to address what’s a burning crisis right now."

  20 September 2023   

VIDEO: BC Community Housing Fund (CHF) 2023 Webinar

This video offers a detailed overview of the Community Housing Fund and a step-by-step guide on eligibility, program requirements and how to apply.

  5 July 2023   

Civic Innovators: Renovate the Public Hearing

Do you ever wonder why some neighbourhoods are all single-family homes while others are high-rises, shops, and duplexes? Did you know you get to be part of that conversation?

Since April CityHive’s Civic Innovators, a group of youth (ages 18-30) from across the province of B.C., have been hard at work coming up with entirely new systems of governance and making recommendations on how to improve the public hearing process.

  30 June 2023   

BC opens $500M Rental Protection Fund

A $500-million rental-protection fund that will help non-profit groups purchase rental buildings has opened in British Columbia.

The fund aims to help First Nations and other non-profit groups buy older “affordable” rental buildings to preserve them as low-cost rental housing.

  26 June 2023   

CMHC Support for Deep Energy Retrofits

CMHC recently announced the  Canada Greener Affordable Housing program (CGAH). The program focuses on supporting deep energy retrofits for existing multi-unit residential buildings. The goal is to see buildings achieve near net zero emissions.

As with all CMHC programs, there are multiple eligibility criteria, but the most critical are the very ambitious targets for energy consumption reductions and emissions.

  19 June 2023   

Housing Central’s B.C. Budget 2024 Submission

On June 16, 2023, BC Non-Profit Housing Association, the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC, and the Aboriginal Housing Management Association submitted our Budget 2024 consultation paper.

Taken together, our proposals will ensure that British Columbians have increased access to affordable housing and that their housing is affordable, safe, and in a livable state of repair.

  12 June 2023   

Our Recommendations on the Financialization of Housing 

Housing Central and CHF Canada recently submitted recommendations on the financialization of housing to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA). 

The financialization of housing is the process where housing is increasingly treated as an investment rather than someone’s home.

  29 March 2023   

The 2023 Federal Budget Misses the Mark on Affordable Housing

We appreciate the focus on improving social supports for low-income Canadians, but are disappointed to see a lack of new investments in affordable housing. Indeed, no number of social supports will do more for low- and middle- income Canadians than ensuring that everybody has access to a safe, secure, affordable place to call home.

Alas, despite communities across the country experiencing explosion in housing need, Budget 2023 does little to address Canada’s worsening housing crisis. Instead, it puts existing affordable housing at risk.

  10 March 2023   

Join BC Housing’s Accessibility Advisory Committee

Do you have lived or professional experience with disability, poverty, and social housing?

BC Housing is creating an External Accessibility Advisory Committee made up of people with diverse backgrounds who have lived and/or professional expertise with disability, poverty, and social housing.

  2 March 2023   

BC Budget is a Step Forward on Reconciliation

Our Housing Central partners at the Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA) are pleased to see significant investment in Affordable Housing and Homelessness across BC in the 2023 BC Budget. This investment is long overdue and needed as BC deals with a housing and homelessness crisis that disproportionately impacts Indigenous people and communities.

  28 February 2023   

B.C. Budget 2023 Builds on Historic Investments in Affordable Housing

Investments will protect existing homes, accelerate funding for new affordable homes, and reduce the growing affordability gap for renters.

  27 February 2023   

Update on BC’s new Rental Protection Fund

We understand there are many questions about when the Fund will be operational and how it will work, and we wanted to update you with the information we’ve confirmed over the past month.