Archives > November 2018

Commercial Insurance

 

CHF Canada has released the Commercial Insurance Program Update.  They are reporting an average 10% rate increase for 2019 renewal.  The good news for housing co-ops in the Edmonton region is that most can expect to see their rates either stay the same or drop by anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a couple thousand dollars.  There are a couple co-ops with claims issues who may experience a moderate increase.

 

Members should also point their attention to the CHF Canada’s new Risk Management Program Checklist. They launched this program earlier this year in an effort to help you identify areas of concerns that you can address to keep your premiums down. You will receive a new checklist for 2019 in January. CHF Canada is aware that many co-ops pair the checklist with their annual unit inspections (Spring & Summer). As a result, they have extended the deadline to August 31st.

 

You will receive credit for completing the checklist and addressing any issues raised. While it would be great to see you complete the checklist for all of your units, credit will be given to co-ops that use the checklist on at least 15% of their units.  The Co-operators will not raise premiums or restrict coverage because of anything brought to light by these checklists as long as your co-op is working towards fixing the problem.

CHF Canada’s Vision Summit

NACHA was pleased to join with over 70 Housing Co-op Leaders in Toronto at the two-day CHF Canada Vision Summit earlier this year, to share ideas for the future of Canada’s co-operative housing movement. Our own Kyle Taylor (Casa Housing Services, Assiniboia Housing Co-op), gave a passionate address to those assembled that I encourage you to read and share with your members for inspiration.  (more…)

Federal Community Housing Initiative (Phase 2) Survey

Rise and Shine Fellow Co-operators.  The National Housing Strategy was released last November but it contains sections that require more design.  CMHC is asking us (the beneficiaries and administrators) how the new subsidy program should be structured.  They are asking us for input!

Grab your morning coffee and let’s dig into this together.  The National Housing Strategy contained $500 million for the Federal Community Housing Initiative (FCHI), a new rental subsidy program for community housing providers (includes co-ops) whose federally administered Operating Agreements expire between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2027. This new program is being rolled out in two phases – the first phase will extend rental subsidies to 2020, while Phase 2 will extend subsidies ($482 million) until 2028.

CMHC will be distributing a survey on FCHI Phase 2 to all co-ops with federally-administered operating agreements later today.  Check your inboxes.  This is an important opportunity for the co-op sector to have its voice heard.  To help focus the conversation a bit, CHF Canada has prepared a brief for our consideration.  The brief centres around three key issues: maintaining principle 4: Co-op Independence and Autonomy, no-net loss, that is, we should lose a single subsidized unit, and the kiss method is best; the program should be easy for the members to use and for the co-op to administer.