Winnipeg — While Canada’s cities are in crisis, housing co-operatives can be part of the solution, a report released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Manitoba demonstrates. The report, written by Professor of City Planning Ian Skelton, uses an innovative international comparative approach to demonstrate how Canada has fallen behind other countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden, and the United States, in its support for co-operative housing.
Canada has no national housing policy, making it unique in this regard among comparable countries. There were indications in this month’s Throne Speech that the federal government may be moving in the direction of a new national housing strategy. One component of such a plan should be co-op housing. Two decades ago, the federal government was funding nearly 20,000 new units of community-based co-op and non-profit housing annually. In 1993, the federal government cancelled funding for new social housing altogether.
All media are invited to attend the release of Supporting Identity and Social Needs: The Many Faces of Coop Housing:
Thursday, October 31, 2002
12:30 pm
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Manitoba
309-323 Portage Avenue