The Cooperative Advantage for Social Inclusion Meets Uncooperative Government Regulation: International Cooperative Principles and Cooperative Housing Regulation in the Province of Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Canadian housing cooperatives are a tool for building an inclusive society, bringing together people diverse in income, race, age, and ability/disability. This six-year case study of an Ottawa, Ontario, Canada housing co-op found that co-op housing provided benefits for its members: reducing the depth of poverty; increasing physical, material and emotional help; and catalyzing social integration, greater social capital, safer communities, organizational experience, skills-building, networking, and political mobilization. However, the legal framework in which co-ops operate and a lack of resources prevent Ontario housing co-ops from fully adhering to International Co-operative Alliance principles and ensuring that all members benefit equally from co-op housing.