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What we do and don’t do 

The Agency has signed an agreement with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to take on some of CMHC’s work with non-profit housing co-operatives. The Agency combines a fresh approach to program administration with excellent service , bringing significant benefits to all stakeholders.

• What we do
• What we don’t do
• Plans and possibilities  

What we do

The Agency’s mandate is

• to ensure that public funds committed for co-operative housing programs are used as intended and are properly accounted for
• to safeguard the public’s investment in co-operative housing.

Within the limits imposed by the terms of its agreement with CMHC, the Agency administers federal co-operative housing programs in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Prince Edward Island, and the operating agreements of co-ops coming under CMHC’s urban-native programs. The Agency took on this work in phases.

The Agency’s agreement with CMHC calls for it to

• give information about the federal co-op housing programs to co-ops and other stakeholders
• monitor whether co-ops are abiding by the terms of their operating agreement with CMHC
• review co-op financial results each year
• reconcile each Section 95 co-op’s subsidy each year
• approve operating budgets, where co-op agreements with CMHC require it
• approve replacement-reserve plans, spending and contribution rates, where agreements require it
• perform a visual inspection of each co-op every two years or as appropriate
• rate co-ops every year on whether they are at risk of sliding into financial difficulties
• help co-ops that are struggling to meet their financial obligations.

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What we don’t do

Some co-ops are funded under programs that CMHC does not administer. These co-ops do not come under the Agency.

• Provincial co-op programs are still administered by the province.
• Municipal co-op programs (SHRA co-operatives) are still administered by the municipality.

In Quebec the federal-program co-ops will remain with CMHC. Some federal-program co-ops in special circumstances, such as British Columbia’s leaky co-ops, are gradually moving over to the Agency as work on their buildings is completed. (The leaky co-ops, like many condominiums in the coastal area, suffered from catastrophic building envelope failure.)

The Agency does not concern itself with co-op governance or democratic functioning, unless problems put the co-op's loans at risk. The Agency usually refers co-ops with governance issues to the appropriate federation of housing co-operatives or to CHF Canada.

The Agency does not undertake certain kinds of financial procedure. CMHC continues to

• hold subsidy monies and distribute them to co-ops
• administer co-op mortgage loans
• approve new co-op loans
• handle mortgage-insurance claims.

The Agency does not set federal housing policy nor change program policies or agreements between housing co-ops and the government.

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Plans and possibilities

The Agency had expected to undertake several additional services anticipated under our agreement with CMHC:

• administer CMHC rent-supplement programs for co-ops in Alberta, Ontario and PEI
• calculate the amount of assistance due to co-ops under their operating agreements with CMHC
• offer benchmarking and best practices from co-ops to co-ops.

The first two services remain with CMHC. For the third - a new service - no funds are available for full program delivery. However, in 2011 and 2012, with support from the Co-operative Secretariat's Co-operative Development Initiative, the Agency undertook to develop the benchmarking and best-practices service as a pilot project.

The Agency's expanded Co-op Data Report currently delivers much of the information originally intended for the benchmarking services. However, a new website provides even more comparables, while allowing co-ops to select their own group of peers for comparison.

Best practices offers housing co-operatives something different. Co-ops with a history of success in a particular area shared some secrets and told some stories, which we posted on the new website. Their examples provide a practical guide to better performance.

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