The city of Toronto is taking steps towards building one of the largest affordable housing projects in decades, and the Scarborough project located at 2444 Eglinton Ave. E. includes more than 600 cooperative units, marking the first time in years that many cooperative homes are being built.

Most cooperatives in Canada are registered as non-profit corporations, and the way they operate is that members collectively own and manage the building they live in, with monthly housing fees designed to cover expenses and surpluses reinvested into the cooperative.

Members do not build equity in their homes; if they move, their home is offered to another family, and monthly costs are often much lower than market rent.

According to the Canadian Housing Cooperative Federation (CHF Canada), most housing cooperatives were developed between the 1970s and 1990s.

CHF Canada stated that federal and regional funding to build and operate these buildings slowed down, then the housing market exploded, and our population increased.

Now, the housing crisis, fueled by a shortage of supply, has brought cooperative buildings back to all levels of government radar – and experts are looking into the role cooperatives can play in solving the crisis.