It’s our 40th Birthday!

  27 July 2022
CHF BC Certificate of Incorporation
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On July 27, 1982, the Co-operative Housing Federation of British Columbia (CHF BC) was launched.

Since then, we have proudly acted as a voice for B.C.’s housing co-ops and championed a meaningful purpose: To promote better housing conditions in British Columbia. We’ve done this through expanding non-profit co-op housing, sharing skills and information, representing co-op housing to governments and the public and promoting the co-op movement and its principles across the province.

This day marks 40 years of uniting and serving our members in a thriving co-operative housing movement. Now representing over 259 housing co-operatives and their almost 15,000 member households, we continue to realize improved well-being and work to foster a supportive environment for co-operative living through our values of belonging, sustainability and growth.

Image: April 24, 1982 CHF BC's founding board members signed the paperwork for our incorporation which was finalized on July 27, 1982. Original board members (left to right): Diane Smythe, Pioneer; Jack Allen, Adanac; Merrilee Robson, Trafalgar; Herb Barbolet (president), Community Alternatives; Wes Bray, Brooksford Place; Margaret Montgomery, Alder Bay; Sharon Scott, Klahanie; Judy Parkin, False Creek; and Vicke Bassewitz, Mission.
Our founding board

“Forty years ago a small but visionary group of co-op members launched CHF BC on a journey to unite, represent and serve housing co-ops in British Columbia. Today we continue that journey, supported by our members, respected by partners and allies alike and resolute in our commitment to the principles that bind us together. May the next 40 years be as inspiring and impactful as the first.”

Thom Armstrong, CEO of CHF BC

The success of co-ops is a reflection of the people behind them. We are proud to be part of housing solutions that honour people and communities higher than the bottom-line, creating spaces where each member is heard and valued. We press forward in supporting co-ops so they meet members’ needs and we look forward to watching the co-operative housing movement grow, allowing more people to enjoy safe, secure and affordable communities that residents are proud to call home.

“The Co-operative Housing Federation of BC has developed into an energetic representative and leader of the housing co-operative communities in BC. Its dedicated members, board and staff look forward to the challenges, opportunities and growth of the next 40 years.”

CHF BC President, Suzann Zimmering
Canada Province of British Columbia A Proclamation A Proclamation ELIZABETH THE SECOND, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith To all to whom these presents shall come – Greeting WHEREAS co-operative housing is an integral part of communities across British Columbia and contributes to the social, economic and environmental well-being of the province, and WHEREAS the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC (CHF BC) is a non-profit organization incorporated on July 27, 1982, to unite, represent and serve co-op housing members across the province in a thriving co-operative housing movement, and WHEREAS July 27, 2022, marks the 40th anniversary of CHF BC expanding non-profit co-op housing, promoting better housing conditions, sharing skills and information, representing co-op housing to governments and the public, and promoting the co-operative movement and co-operative principles across British Columbia; NOW KNOW YE THAT We do by these presents proclaim and declare that July 27, 2022, shall be known as “40th Anniversary of the Co‐operative Housing Federation of BC” in the Province of British Columbia. IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent and the Great Seal of Our Province of British Columbia to be hereunto affixed. WITNESS, The Honourable Janet Austin, Lieutenant Governor of Our Province of British Columbia, in Our City of Victoria, in Our Province, this twenty-second day of July, two thousand twenty-two and in the seventy-first year of Our Reign. BY COMMAND. Acting Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Housing (counter signature for the Great Seal) Lieutenant Governor
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We are excited to announce that a provincial governmental proclamation [PDF] has officially recognized this occasion, marking July 27, 2022, as the 40th anniversary of the Co-operative Housing Federation of British Columbia. In the years to come, we hope to create an even greater and increasingly inclusive community of sustainable and permanently affordable housing co-ops in B.C.

Join us as we celebrate this milestone through honouring the past, shaping the present, building the future – together.