Co-operative Housing in Canada: A Model for Empowered Communities Canada

Volunteer-managed Canadian housing co-operatives boast a successful twenty-five year record of sound and cost-effective management, self-governance, sustained public-private partnerships, and participation in broader social issues. This success can be traced directly to the empowerment of ordinary Canadians to own and democratically manage their housing. Although economic circumstances and the roles of government may differ among the groups represented at Habitat II, CHF Canada believes that elements of the co-operative empowerment experience can be used in other countries, by governments and NGO's alike, to enable citizens to build and manage their own housing.