The housing crisis has been front and centre in this federal election campaign. And for good reason. Canadians are facing skyrocketing rents and home prices.

When too much household income goes towards housing, the impacts are real and long-lasting. Education is put on hold, meals are limited to what the food bank has in stock, there is no chance for the kids to play on the local team. And in its worst expression, ever larger numbers of people facing homelessness.

Add tariffs, global conflict and broader uncertainty to the mix, Canadians who were already on the edge or underwater are even worse off.

While all federal parties talk of boosting housing supply, it is important to remember that different housing types will meet different needs and have different outcomes. One type of housing answering today’s uncertainty and instability is co-operative housing.

Most people know you can rent, and you can own a home. Both are more expensive and less accessible than ever before. Renters, in particular, face a damning lack of control and long-term security of their housing. Affordable rental housing is a rare and disappearing species nearing extinction. For every new deeply affordable rental home built in Canada, we are losing fourteen to financialization. The costs and harms to individuals and communities are mounting, but proven solutions are within reach.

Co-operative housing offers something different. They become more affordable over time. Yes, when the cost of everything is going up, co-operatives buck the trend because over time, they become relatively more affordable compared to similarly aged market rental buildings.

Co-operatives offer strong security of tenure. There’s no landlord who can sell, demovict, or renovict residents. Members are protected by a sensible mission: to deliver quality housing at-cost.

And, co-operatives build stronger and more productive communities. Affordable and secure co-op housing boosts the economic productivity of members, while also developing business skillsets of members charged with the governance of co-op homes.

Given the depth of the current housing crisis, it is no surprise that recent polling shows 73 per cent of Canadians think co-op and non-profit housing is a viable solution to the housing crisis, and more than 60 per cent want to see more of it built. In these polarizing times, this level of public agreement merits all-party support.

Given the times we are living in, it’s worth understanding how existing housing co-ops came to be. They were often built by people facing exclusion and insecurity, who came together, determined to develop a safe space for themselves and others, building housing to meet community needs. Recognizing the success of this model, governments, especially the federal government, supported the scaling-up of the co-operative housing sector through significant funding and financing throughout the 1970s and 80s.

There’s Abiwin Co-op in Ottawa, founded in the 1980s specifically to meet the housing needs of Ottawa’s 2SLGBTQ+ communities, ensuring a safe and inclusive community at a time when this was far from assured.

Unity North, a new co-operative in Halifax, which, recognizing the historic and ongoing displacement of Black and Indigenous people, has prioritized new co-op homes for people from those communities.

Western Seniors Housing Co-operative in Brandon, Manitoba, was built to address the lack of housing suitable for seniors while providing community, especially for those leaving nearby farms where they had worked and lived their whole lives.

There is Caroline Co-operative in Hamilton. When the landlord recently put up a for-sale sign, tenants organized. They feared that their homes would be flipped, and many would be displaced, just like many other rental buildings across Canada. Instead, they formed a co-operative and put together financing needed to take control of their housing and convert it into a co-operative. Their co-op will not only benefit current residents, but future generations will have the perpetual affordability and security of co-operative housing.

When Canadians are forced to compete against each other for access to a basic human right, we all lose. There are multiple issues getting in the way of our progress: development fees and approvals are too high and lengthy, the productivity of our development industry lags behind international counterparts, skilled labour is in short supply and our fragile supply chains are further threatened by the utter stupidity of trade conflict between erstwhile friends. It might be tempting to search for solutions on the margins, but make no mistake, housing co-operatives have a proven track record. Scaling up federal funding and financing for co-operative housing would protect jobs, boost productivity and build the permanently affordable and secure homes that are needed today, and for generations to come.

Tim Ross is the chief executive officer of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada, which represents over 900 housing co-operatives that are home to over a quarter of a million Canadians. Tim has worked in the community housing sector at national and provincial levels for over 15 years.

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