Relics of a long life are scattered throughout Dimitri Roussopoulos’s 19th-century home. The 88-year-old has lived in the two-storey townhouse since 1972, where he and three other residents together pay less than $1,000 a month.
“I often travel and people say, ‘where do you get the money for travelling?’ I say, ‘well, I don’t have to pay a mortgage,'” he says.
Roussopoulos is one of the founders of Canada’s largest housing co-operative development, the Milton Park Community, in Montreal’s Plateau-Mont-Royal borough. The network spans six square blocks, with 616 housing units, 146 residential buildings and two commercial buildings.
Since co-op members own the property, no one has to worry about being evicted or the building being sold — as long as they follow the rules.
“I have a sense of ownership, I have a sense of security,” says Roussopoulos. “I feel my personality enriched. I feel healthier in every way, physically and mentally.”
According to the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (CHF), forms of social housing, including co-ops, make up less than four per cent of Canada’s housing stock.
It can also take years for a co-op housing unit to become available. In Quebec, wait times can range from one to two years, according to the Confédération québécoise des coopératives d’habitation (CQCH).
How do co-ops work?
In a housing co-op, members are co-owners and vote on how the building is managed.
Generally, housing co-ops are divided into two categories: non-profit and equity co-ops. In the latter, you buy a share of a building, which can gain value over time.
Non-profit co-ops are much more common in Canada. In those, you don’t build equity — instead, you pay a monthly fee that covers building expenses and maintenance. When you leave, your unit goes to someone else. That means residents can pay significantly under market rate for housing — depending on the city, province and structure of the co-op.
People who live in them say they offer an attractive, low-cost alternative as the price of renting and buying property rises. Here’s how housing co-ops work and why we might start hearing more about them in Canada.
CHF Canada says there are about 95,000 co-op housing units in Canada, most of which were developed two generations ago.
“In the 1970s and 80s there was robust federal and provincial investment in new co-operative housing supply,” explains Tim Ross, executive director of CHF Canada.
“That investment slowed down due to policy decisions by governments in the 80s and 90s, to first cut and then eliminate social housing funding.”
More government funding
Different levels of government have scaled up funding for co-op housing in recent years. Last year, the federal government launched the Co-op Housing Development Program, setting aside $1.5 billion in contributions and loans to build and expand co-ops.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada says the government “recognizes the essential role that non-market housing, including co-operative housing, plays in fulfilling many Canadians’ housing needs.”
It adds that low-cost loans and forgivable loans for new and existing co-op units are available through the Affordable Housing Fund.
Quebec’s Housing Ministry also says housing co-ops “are an important model in Quebec’s housing supply ecosystem.”
In a statement, a ministry spokesperson said funds are available through a variety of programs, including the Quebec Affordable Housing Program.
Last year, the City of Montreal announced it would sell its land — usually vacant lots or parking lots — at a break-even price if it is being used to build off-market housing.
Quebec’s CQCH says it’s a good start, but a far cry from government investments in the 70s and 80s.
General director Sandra Turgeon says that if governments are serious about developing this kind of housing, they’ll have to provide a lot more funding long term. She adds that government programs can be tough to navigate and tend to favour long-established co-ops over new ones.
“The co-op needs to have experience,” she says. “You have to already be big to get bigger.”
Hurdles to starting new housing co-ops
Professor Avi Friedman heads McGill University’s affordable homes research group. He says starting a new co-op can be time-consuming and complicated. The process starts with establishing a co-op entity and acquiring funding.
“A group of people need to get together and if they build their own property, they need to hire to find a site and to buy the site, get permits to build and so on. These are processes that usually are very cumbersome and long,” he says.
The CQCH adds that residents won’t save as much in newly established co-ops as ones established years ago. Turgeon says residents in new co-ops will pay closer to the current market rate, minus whatever government funding is available. She argues the process is still worth it.
“We work for the future. It’s a little bit expensive now, but it will stay at the same price in future years and your income will increase,” she says.
Ross believes the best approach is to scale up existing housing co-ops, rather than starting new organizations altogether.
“They have a track record and a balance sheet from which to work with, so that does create a more advantageous situation when it comes to new development,” he says.
Not for everyone
Friedman says that the democratic nature of a co-op isn’t something everyone will find appealing.
“We are individualistic in nature,” he explains. “People want to own their own property, to be suburban. Once they move in, there can be issues with getting along, how to share things and so on.”
Roussopoulos admits that co-op members may butt heads at times, but the sense of community makes it all worth it.
“People talk to each other. They know each other on a first-name basis and that creates a whole atmosphere where you feel great comfort.”
