COVID-19 Pandemic
ADVICE

According to the federal government, coronaviruses are a large family of viruses. They can cause diseases ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV). Some transmit easily from person to person while others do not. COVID-19 is a new disease that has not been previously identified in humans. Those with COVID-19 may have few to no symptoms. You may not know you have symptoms of COVID-19 because they are similar to a cold or flu. Symptoms may take up to 14 days to appear after exposure to COVID-19; they include fever, cough, difficulty breathing, and pneumonia in both lungs. In severe cases, infection can lead to death.

Question:
There is a lot of fear regarding COVID-19 and I am wondering what your guidance is regarding routine repairs and inspections with the co-op or outside contractors going into members' homes, especially with repair people who go all over the community and enhance the risk of community spread.

Answer:
Our advice at the moment is that co-ops should do whatever they can to be part of the solution to the COVID-19 pandemic. That means limiting contact among people and practising social distancing to the greatest extent possible.

We canvassed the views of maintenance services including our own at COHO and the staff at BC Housing. They are providing maintenance and repair services to occupied homes only in emergency situations. All regular or routine maintenance is being restricted to vacant homes and common areas (interior and exterior). We think this is prudent in the circumstances and important for the protection of co-op members, staff and tradespeople. Of course there are always situations that call for judgement to be exercised. If, for example, a home is vacant because a member is away on vacation, it may be possible to have work done safely in the home while the member is away. That’s a decision for the board to make.

The board is charged with a special responsibility to act at all times in the best interests of the co-op. This sometimes calls for tough choices to be made. In the current situation, it is difficult for us to imagine that it’s in the co-op’s best interests to proceed with business as usual.

Co-ops may find the following useful:

• This COVID-19 Operations Manual from BC Housing has lots of good information and guidance that may apply to housing co-ops
• Letter-Ministry of Health letter to Social Sectors (March 18, 2020)
• Information for people who are self-isolating while awaiting test results for COVID-19 (March 3, 2020)
• Fraser Health – Information and downloadable material to help answer questions about COVID-19

CHF BC is working hard to maintain services during the COVID-19 pandemic while placing the highest priority on the health and safety of our staff, members and many partners.  Here’s the latest on what you can expect from our Group Buying programs as we work to “flatten the curve” and deliver value for your membership dues.

Appliances:
Trail Appliances has now closed all retail stores and outlets to protect the safety of their staff and clients. They are still able to provide curbside delivery but cannot offer haul-away service at this time. If your co-op has an emergency request, please contact Jamie Dosanjh at jdosanjh@trailappliances.com. All other requests should go to aptreplacement@trailappliances.com.

Cabinets and Countertops:
Danube Kitchens, our cabinet and countertops partner on the Mainland, will still provide service on request, while respecting health and safety guidelines. If you have a request, please contact cabinets@chf.bc.ca.

Flooring:
Our flooring partners in the Lower Mainland, CD Contract and K&A Flooring, are both available for service on request, while respecting health and safety guidelines. On Vancouver Island, the Island Flooring Centre is closed but available on request. For any flooring requests, please contact Chrissy Miller at flooring@chf.bc.ca.

Maintenance Supplies:
Our partner RONA stores are still open and you can shop until 6:00 p.m. You can also shop online. If you need more information or to request a service, please contact Brad LeGrow at brad.legrow@rona.ca.

Telecom Program:
Our telecom program partner TELUS has let us know that their technicians will not enter units to upgrade wiring to fibre-optic. Regular internet speed upgrades and repair appointments are still happening with modifications for safety. You can visit TELUS.com/covid19 for the most up to date information on how they are supporting clients in this uncertain time. And for any members with questions, please contact us at telecom@chf.bc.ca.

Waste Management:
Our Waste and Recycling partners Waste Connections on the Mainland and GFL Environmental on the Island continue to provide all services with no interruption.

If you have additional questions about any of our Group Buying programs, including ways we can help your co-op access group buying services at this time, please contact Arnold Sang at asang@chf.bc.ca.

IT and Cybersecurity during COVID-19 (for coops)

• Facility Entry Reception Poster for COVID-19 (English)
• Facility Entry Reception Poster for COVID-19 11 x 17 (English)
• Facility Entry Reception Poster for COVID-19 (Punjabi)
• Facility Entry Reception Poster for COVID-19 (Simplified Chinese)
• COVID-19 - hand washing with soap and water
• COVID-19 - protect yourself and others
• COVID-19 - tips for residents of apartments and multi-unit buildings 8.5x11
• COVID-19 - tips for residents of apartments and multi-unit buildings 11x17
• Posters from the Public Health Agency of Canada
• Known facts about coronavirus - multiple languages
• Stop the spread of germs - US Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
• Cover your cough and sneezing - Vancouver Coastal Health
• How to wash your hands - Vancouver Coastal Health with multilingual option

BC Housing has confirmed that many co-op members are eligible to claim a BC Temporary Rent Supplement (TRS).

You are eligible to claim the TRS if you live in:

• A federal section 61 program co-op and you do not already receive a rent supplement
• A federal section 95 program co-op and you pay the maximum unassisted housing charge
• A federal ILM program co-op and you do not already receive a provincial rent supplement from BC Housing
• A co-op developed outside of any federal or provincial housing program (e.g. Community Land Trust co-ops)
• A co-op originally developed under a federal section 61, section 95 or ILM program that no longer has a CMHC operating agreement, and you do not already receive a subsidy to reduce your housing charge

Members in provincially funded co-ops and members already receiving rent supplements or paying government-subsidized housing charges are not eligible.

Other eligibility criteria apply to all tenants and co-op members.

We have received inquiries from co-ops and co-op members about how to interpret the TRS guidelines found HERE.

Here is a short translation guide for housing co-ops.  For your purposes:

• “Landlord” means your co-op
• “Tenant” means a co-op member
• “Market rent” means the co-op’s maximum unassisted housing charge for each unit type
• “Government operating funding” does not include any payments directed to a co-op from CMHC

CHF BC is grateful to BC Housing for being so fair and flexible in establishing that co-op members qualify for the TRS.

Co-op members can APPLY HERE.  Co-ops then complete the second part of the application.  Bear in mind that the program is not retroactive, so you will need to apply by the end of April to receive a payment for April housing charges.  BC Housing’s turnaround time on depositing payments in co-op accounts is very fast.

Questions can be directed to BC Housing at 778-452-2836 (Lower Mainland) or 1-877-757-2577 (Toll free) or to CHF BC at members@chf.bc.ca.

Housing co-ops and their members are understandably worried about the financial impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. CHF BC and our allies at Housing Central have been following the news closely to keep track of the support being offered by various levels of government to housing co-ops and their members. Here are two charts:

1. A summary of the support announced so far by the provincial and federal governments for housing co-ops and non-profit societies
2. A summary of the support announced so far by the provincial and federal governments for for members of housing co-ops and tenants of non-profit housing societies. Items of particular relevance to housing co-ops or co-op members are shaded.  Links to government sources have been included where available.

This is a rapidly changing environment and some programs have been announced before details of eligibility and/or application procedures are available. We will continue to monitor government announcements and update the linked charts regularly to bring you the latest information.  Please check back frequently for more news, and let us know if you spot something that we have missed. As always, we welcome your questions at members@chf.bc.ca.

We are all dealing with unprecedented challenges navigating the COVID-19 outbreak and deciding how best to support and communicate with members.  No one has everything figured out, but we are all in this together and together we will find the best way forward.

On March 24, CHF BC issued a memo to all member co-ops called Helping Members in Financial Distress during COVID-19.  Thank you for your positive response to that memo.  We believe it sets out a sound approach, and this will add to that advice.

If you haven’t communicated with your members about April 1 housing charges, now is the time to do that.  We recommend something very simple.

First, we recommend that you send a short notice to all members similar to this sample notice (MS Word file — will download). The purpose of the memo is to advise members that:

1. If their income has not been directly affected by COVID-19, they should pay their housing charge in full on April 1 using whatever method you normally have in place, or
2. If they have experienced a loss of income due to COVID-19 that will affect their ability to pay the April 1 housing charge, they need to share that information with you right away.

Once you have determined the number of members who have suffered a loss of income due to COVID-19 you will be able to take the next steps to:

1. Help those members tap into any new sources of financial assistance available from provincial and federal governments, and
2. Determine more precisely the impact of COVID-19 on the co-op’s revenue from monthly housing charges.

CHF BC will publish a summary of the assistance available from all levels of government later today.  We will also publish additional information this week to help you make agreements with members to defer housing charge payments if needed.

We are living through a very volatile situation.  Things are changing daily, if not hourly, and we will be monitoring developments carefully to ensure that our response is relevant and appropriate.  By acting responsibly now, we will be laying the foundation for the weeks and months to come.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions at members@chf.bc.ca and please stay safe.

Some co-ops have been worried that they won’t be able to hold their Annual General Meeting (AGM) by the deadline set out in section 143 (2) of the Cooperative Association Act.  In normal circumstances a co-op must hold an AGM within four months of its fiscal year end.

We offered some advice on March 18 to address this issue, but the province’s Corporate Registry has just made things even easier.  Co-ops have been given an automatic extension of the deadline for holding an AGM, effective March 31, 2020.  Here is the Corporate Registry Bulletin confirming this information.

Between now and September 30, 2020 you will not need to ask the Registry’s permission to postpone the date of your AGM, but you will have to advise your members if you decide to schedule the AGM after the usual deadline.  This is a very helpful convenience.  There is some ambiguity in the Registry’s announcement and follow-up correspondence, and for the moment it is not clear whether an automatic delay can extend beyond September 30.  We will try to clear this up in the next few days, but for now you can safely assume that any AGM can be delayed at least until September 30 as long as you advise your members of your decision.

You may still decide that you want to hold a “virtual” AGM rather than delay, and in that case please refer to our March 18 memo and contact us at members@chf.bc.ca for more information.

Dear CHF BC:

Thanks for your COVID-19 advice. Our Board is about to meet via video-conference. How do we do Consent Resolutions?

Answer:
If your board is meeting by video-conference, there is no need for a consent resolution. Consent resolutions are only used where it is not possible to have a meeting, and a video-conference is a valid meeting as long as quorum is present and everyone can hear and respond to each other.

Here is a sample  form of consent resolution with examples of two resolutions that could be adopted by a board. You can also download a MS Word version for easy editing.

Some things to note about the form of resolution:

1. You can prepare a separate form for each resolution or include more than one (as in the sample)
2. Consent resolutions are only to be used in place of meetings. Where a valid meeting of any kind is held and a resolution is adopted by the required majority, you should produce regular minutes of that meeting rather than use a consent resolution
3. Once signed by every director, consent resolutions are kept in the board minute book along with minutes of board meetings
4. In order to be valid, a consent resolution must be signed by every director. There are no exceptions to this requirement
5. Consent resolutions can be signed in counterpart, i.e. a separate (but identical) copy can be signed by individual directors, as long as signatures are obtained from every director
6. The resolution is effective at the date and time of the final signature obtained

Dear CHF BC:
We need to call a members’ meeting to approve new housing charges but it’s not safe to meet in person at the moment.  Can we poll the members by email to see if they support the proposed increase?

Answer:
You can poll the members by email to find out how they feel about the proposed increase, but that’s not enough to make a binding decision.  In some co-ops the board sets the housing charges.  In others, new housing charges must be approved by ordinary resolution at a members’ meeting called for that purpose.  An email poll is not a meeting, so you’ll need to consider other options.

For more information on meetings, see CHF BC’s advice on meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Have you or someone you know lost a job because of COVID-19?  Our Housing Central partner, BC Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA), has launched a new website to connect job seekers with non-profit housing providers.  Whether you’re looking for work or looking for workers, check out housingjobmatch.ca/.

https://twitter.com/hillnikki/status/1242998224492756992?s=21