Housing co-ops welcome progress made in new federal economic stimulus report

OTTAWA, Sept. 28 /CNW/ - Canada's non-profit housing co-ops welcomed the progress documented in the federal government's sixth report on the important stimulus investments made in Canada's Economic Action Plan, particularly for renovation and retrofit projects for non-profit housing co-operatives, said the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (CHF Canada).

"CHF Canada is pleased to see that the federal government's two-year stimulus initiative, Canada's Economic Action Plan, is helping co-ops that benefited from the funding provided through the $1 billion two-year renovation and retrofit initiative," said CHF Canada's president, Wes Hosler. "We are working with member housing co-ops across Canada to ensure that projects under year two of the renovation and retrofit initiative are completed before the March 31, 2011 deadline."

"Canada's housing co-ops are proposing that the federal government build on these investments - without increasing spending - by requiring its provincial and territorial counterparts to work together to develop a transparent accountability framework to ensure that federal spending is linked to measurable outcomes in housing need reduction," said Nicholas Gazzard, CHF Canada's executive director.

CHF Canada is the national voice of the Canadian co-operative housing movement. Its members include nearly 900 non-profit housing co-operatives and other organizations across Canada.  More than a quarter of a million Canadians live in housing co-ops, in every province and territory.

For further information:

Nicholas Gazzard, Executive Director, 1-800-465-2752 ext. 230, or 613-293-8913 (cell)
[email protected]

Scott Jackson, Program Manager, National Communications, 1-877-533-2667 ext. 122
[email protected]