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Refreshing our Agency Reports
The Agency is currently working on refreshing our four key reports for co-ops: the Risk Report, Compliance Report, Plain-Language Financials, and the newly renamed Performance Report (previously known as the Co-op Data Report). Our goal was to make each report more accessible and engaging. We have
Your Plain-Language Financials: Needed More than Ever
Do your members understand the co-op’s audited financial statements, even with the auditor’s best efforts at explaining them? The Agency created the Plain-Language Financials so that co-op boards could answer that question with more confidence.
The idea behind the Plain-Language Financials is
Sample Statutory Declaration Form
Preservation Fund: Financial Assistance with Essential Planning Tools
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
What to Look for in Your Next Risk Report
Once a year, all Agency clients get what their boards tell us is our most important report, which is now enjoying a make-over. When you receive it, you’ll see a refreshed Risk Report that is tighter, more visual and easier to read. Although it has a different look, you will find there the same
Arrears and Bad Debts: Continued Improvement
Your co-op is in the housing business, not the lending business. If a household doesn’t pay what it owes and moves out, you’re left with a bad debt, which will have to be covered by your other members. It is important for your co-op to keep arrears to a minimum and even better, to keep them at zero!
Say “No” to Directors in Arrears and Put it in Writing
Everyone agrees that housing co-ops need to eliminate member arrears—or at least keep them to a bare minimum. Uncontrolled arrears are the mark of a co-op sliding into financial difficulty, putting at risk its ability to cover day-to-day operating expenses. Arrears also take money out of the members
Federal Program Housing Co-ops: Getting Better All the Time
There’s no doubt that, as a group, the Agency’s client housing co-operatives are continuing to produce better results. We compared their performance in 2018 with their operations in the Agency’s early years—now more than a decade ago—and we are impressed with our clients’ progress. It was also good
Hawthorne Housing Co-operative: A More Sustainable Future
What is Hawthorne Housing Co-operative thinking? Many co-ops would view its healthy condition with envy and look for no further improvement. Yet, with the end of its extended operating agreement in view, Hawthorne (Surrey, BC) is preparing itself for a sustainable future.
On the whole, the 59-unit
Tip of the Month
Management Trend
The trend to hire management companies continues. 58% of co-ops hire management companies, compared to 28% that employ independent staff as their managers.