ICA Housing, in conjunction with CECODHAS, helped fund a project designed to look at different housing co-operatives around the world and try and draw some lessons useful to other housing co-operatives around the world. Titled 'Application of Co-operative Principles in Practice' it documents twenty-one cases of housing co-operatives from twelve countries. To view the profile on Hugh Garner Housing Co-operative, a Canadian housing co-operative, click here.

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CHF Canada 2020 Certification
At the ICA Housing Board Meeting in Paris on November 4th 2008, Mr. Nicholas Gazzard presented a powerpoint presentation documenting CHF Canada's 2020 Certification Program for its member housing co-operatives. Click here to read more.

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Inclusiveness in Action: Case Studies in supporting diversity and integrating special needs in Canadian housing co-operatives.

This report looks at how six housing co-ops across the country have achieved integrated communities. Different as they are in size, membership and physical structure, they all have several traits in common. They work to maintain an inclusive community; they value and intend to preserve their mixed membership; and they have agreed to share their stories.
Background

Canadian housing co-operatives believe that, in accordance with the principles of open membership, co-ops should be open to anyone who needs their services and accepts the obligations of membership. The first federal co-op housing program operated between 1973 and 1978. This program, unlike subsequent ones, had no specific requirement for accessible units, yet a central aim of the co-op housing movement was to provide housing for those most disadvantaged by the private sector. This not only included people in wheelchairs, but also low-income households, gays and lesbians, visible minorities, those with young children, those with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses, and refugees. By 1978 co-op housing communities were already leading the way in housing the Canadian social mosaic.

Therefore this report follows six different case studies in Canada and aims to highlight some of the processes and techniques used which may be of interest to other cooperatives around the world. The report is available in both English and French.

Click here to read the report in English.

Click here to read the report in French.