In October, we reported on New Money from CMHC for Planning through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)’s Preservation Fund. The fund was created as an offshoot of the Seed Funding program, which allows co-ops with federally administered operating agreements, in good standing, to apply for financial help with costs associated with preservation activities and environmental sustainability.
Since then, CMHC has been inundated with applications and has been busy processing them. Successful applicants will receive an Application Approval Letter that includes the funding amounts, terms and conditions of the fund and the time frame to complete eligible activities. While, currently, there is a backlog, CMHC is diligently pushing through the applications as quickly as possible.
As of April, the application process changed from a fillable PDF to an online portal system via CMHC’s website. If your co-op has already started a PDF application, your efforts will not be lost. Once you have set up your profile in the portal, copy and paste your answers from the PDF into the secure log-in application pages. You can save your work and go back to it at any time.
For Agency clients, the Preservation Fund is great opportunity to get funds for such necessary reports such as a Building Condition Assessment (BCA) and a capital reserve plan (CRP), as well as an age-friendly conversion analysis or energy audit. These valuable reports are essential for planning and vital tools for your co-op’s successful future.
Keep in close communication with your relationship manager to ensure your co-op is entering the correct information in the proper categories within the application. While there is no set deadline to apply, you don’t want your co-op to miss out, so it’s best not to wait. Get your application in before summer ends and have your plans ready before winter hits.
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