Housing Co-ops Support Nova Scotia's Plan for Provincial Housing Strategy

OTTAWA, April 4, 2012 /CNW/ - "Nova Scotia's housing co-ops welcome the provincial government's announcement in Budget 2012 that it will develop a housing strategy for the Province", said Nicholas Gazzard, Executive Director of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (CHF Canada).

Gazzard said that CHF Canada wants to "work closely with the Minister of Community Services, Denise Peterson-Rafuse, and her departmental housing officials on a co-operative component of the housing strategy."

"CHF Canada is hopeful that the new provincial strategy will lead to measurable reductions in need for low-income Nova Scotians and protect the long-term affordability of existing low-income households in the province," Gazzard added. "We also look forward to helping the government develop an affordable homeownership strategy that takes advantage of the benefits the co-operative model has to offer."

"We are very much looking forward to working with the government to both preserve and expand the non-profit co-op housing stock in Nova Scotia," said Jeanene Harnett, CHF Canada's Regional Director for Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia's housing co-ops are home to nearly 1,900 households in 76 permanent, mixed-income communities.

The United Nations has declared 2012 the International Year of Co-operatives. There are nearly 1 billion co-op members around the world, and the world's top 300 co-operative enterprises generate close to $1.1 trillion in annual revenue. Canada's co-operative sector is very robust, with 9,000 co-ops serving 18 million members.

CHF Canada is the national voice of the Canadian co-operative housing movement. Its members include over 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.

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

David Granovsky, Government Relations Co-ordinator, 1-800-465-2752 ext. 222, cell: 613-290-7687, [email protected]