
The organizational effectiveness of the Centre
... or leading by example
Although new, the Centre has a heavy responsibility towards the whole world of community housing: to transform it to become more robust and resilient. We also hope to improve its management capacities and social action. In short, we want community housing to be more efficient.
The Centre, therefore, has a moral obligation to act accordingly by establishing state-of-the-art governance, management, communication and organizational practices.
In terms of governance, the Centre, like the remainder of the community housing sector, must ensure that it has quality governance that combines democratic practices, expertise and independence of mind.
The Center is fortunate to be a coalition of the leading community housing groups in Canada. We must make the most of this situation and ensure that the organization’s employees acquire a detailed knowledge of the movement’s realities, dynamism, and characteristics in all its richness and diversity. We can’t achieve that without a proactive approach. Despite the organization’s status as a funder, the Center and its employees must adopt an attitude of humility, modesty and great curiosity and interest towards those who build, animate and maintain community housing from one end of the country to the other.
Management is an area where traditional practices have been systematically challenged in recent years. Scientific advances in psychology, andragogy, and work organization have made it possible to highlight the positive effects of previously neglected human resource practices such as teamwork, flexibility, regular evaluation, and continuous training. We therefore have an obligation to act in light of this knowledge.
There is no question that motivated competent employees, who adhere to the group’s mission and are professionally fulfilled, are essential for an efficient organization, but we must not neglect the rapid development of office automation tools that multiply the potential impact of each gesture. Cloud computing, IP telephone, document management platforms, and customer relationship management (CRM) software are all tools that link our different departments and organize their notes, activities and objectives in a coherent system. Thus, everyone has simple and direct access to the real-time data they need. This not only allows unparalleled coordination between teams and departments, but also provides our partners (co-ops, NPOs and other organizations in the sector) with something extraordinary: totally personalized relationships while being fair and effective, even if they interact with several of the Centre’s points of contact.
These exchanges take the form of direct interactions (emails, telephones, meetings) and modern means of communication: website, social media, online events, development of shared tools through the information platform, etc.
In all these areas, we must adhere to the letter of the law and the spirit of the community movement. Participation, transparency, dialogue, respect, fairness and recognition must go hand in hand with rigour, discipline, technological productivity and accountability.
The Centre fully understands that it serves the community better by demonstrating, through its actions, the capacity to assume effective organizational management, which involves:
- building staff expertise and engagement through professional development and empowerment
- creating an effective and functioning governance structure
- establishing clear and effective external and internal communication
Learn about News and Awarded Projects that relate to
Effective Centre Organizational Stewardship
Municipalities Call for Rapid Housing Solutions Amid Pandemic
As the COVID-19 pandemic compounds Canada’s ongoing housing crisis, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is proposing a federal initiative and partnership to rapidly repurpose on-sale private buildings as permanent, non-profit housing for vulnerable Canadians. FCM is proposing a federal initiative and partnership to help non-profit community housing providers rapidly acquire, renovate and retrofit two kinds of buildings.
Ottawa Community Land Trust
Land trusts provide a holistic approach to community building that is often missed in traditional development frameworks. A complementary sector response to Ottawa’s housing crisis, the land trust model will unite several smaller housing providers under one voice where expertise and skills will be shared and disseminated more quickly. The perpetual affordability of the land will allow smaller housing providers to leverage their surpluses for capital repairs, renewal, and redevelopment.
Community Housing : Transformation is Now
Too often over the past 25 years, official policies have prevented our sector from adequately responding to the challenges that society’s evolution brought to housing. The very real consequences of this inability have been the emergence of mass homelessness, a dramatic rise in rents and the spread of unbridled real estate speculation with disastrous social and financial consequences for the vast majority.
Meet Tim Ross
Tim is a nationally recognized non-profit, community, and co-operative housing policy advocate, with years of leadership experience in housing and homelessness. He is the founding President of the Centre and Executive Director of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada. CHF Canada is a national membership association of housing co-ops, representing over one thousand members, and home to over a quarter of a million people.
Capacity Building for Success in Meeting Community Needs
Originally serving the small community of Mission, Mamele’awt Qweesome Housing provides housing and support services for people in the Fraser Valley in a way that ensures tenant safety, empowers self-determination and the honouring of robust agreements. Founded in 1987 to address housing shortages in Mission and the surrounding area, MQHS’ commitment to sustainability is notable: it currently has 244 units of affordable housing within 30 properties in their housing portfolio.
Increasing Social Inclusion and Tenant Engagement in PEI
Although not a panacea to the quandary, the Centre is happy to announce new project funding to assist community members with tenant support through the Nanegkam Housing Corporation. Its Indigenous Tenant Support Initiative (ITSI) is a step forward to empowering Indigenous tenants, arming them with the knowledge, tools, and support to stave off illegal renovictions, informing them of their rights and responsibilities, while providing life skill development assistance.
Beyond Reconciliation, Indigenization is Key
In the shared culture manifesto, a focus is given to the Seven Sacred Teachings of the Grandfathers that provide insight into the values held by the organization: honesty, wisdom, courage, humility, love, respect and trust.
Namerind: Truth and Reconciliation in Action
In 2007 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was established to facilitate, “reconciliation among former students, their families, their communities and all Canadians.” This was the outcome of the largest class-action settlement in Canadian history—known as The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement—which sought to recognize the damage inflicted to approximately 86,000 Indigenous Peoples who were forcefully enrolled as children in residential schools.
Hiy̓ám̓ ta Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Housing Society Organizational Capacity
Founded in 2019, the Hiy̓ám ta Housing Society has the mandate to develop 1000 new affordable rental homes over the next 10 years for Squamish Nation people and the wider community. Given these ambitious goals, the Society is currently in the start-up phase and requires additional capacity building, team building and community engagement activities to successfully start to plan and implement its goals to develop affordable rental housing on 6 potential on-reserve sites.
Awarded Grants
Discover Projects that Transform the Community Housing Sector
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.

Sectoral Impact Projects
Develop new services, models or tools to help the sector build and manage affordable housing.

Local Projects
Sector Transformation Fund
Enhance the capacity of your local organization to provide affordable housing in a better way.

Community-Based Tenant Initiative
Develop projects that aim to engage tenants/co-op members in housing decisions that affect them.