Creating and living in housing co-operatives Artwork

The Common Share

Welcome to The Common Share, a podcast about the opportunities and challenges of developing co-operative businesses. The Common Share is produced by Co-operatives First, a business development organization that increases awareness and understanding of the co-op business model and supports co-operative business development in rural and Indigenous communities across western Canada.

All Episodes

The Common Share

Creating and living in housing co-operatives

July 31, 2024 • Co-operatives First

Canada needs to build a lot of housing units to meet current demand and make housing affordable again - 3.5 million homes by 2030, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

It should come as no surprise that we think an important part of the solution is housing co-operatives.

In this episode, we spoke to two guests who can talk about co-op housing from different perspectives – someone with a long history of living in a housing co-op, and someone who is in the process of helping to get one started. James Gilliard has lived in a housing co-op in Saskatoon for over 20 years and has been heavily involved in its governance and the housing co-op world in that time. Jillian Ames is a member of the Rooted Community Housing Co-operative in Edmonton, which is just getting started.

Check out this episode to learn more about housing co-ops as an effective alternative to renting and traditional home ownership, and the possibilities for starting new ones.