Where do Co-ops fit in the housing spectrum?

Most of us either buy or rent our home. But there is a third option, one that is often overlooked: cooperative housing.

In a co-op, there are no landlords and no tenants. There is no rent or mortgage payment. Ownership is collective, and the responsibility for maintaining the buildings and landscaping is, too. Monthly housing fees are calculated to cover costs, not to make a profit, which often makes this type of housing more affordable.

It may sound like a hippie fantasy (and indeed, most Canadian co-ops were founded in the 1970s and early ’80s), but it’s a proven model that is still working for the quarter of a million people across Canada living in co-op housing today.

According to the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada, Quebec is home to more housing co-ops than any other province, with 22,500 units in 1,130 co-operatives. And 15 of those co-ops are in a single neighbourhood in downtown Montreal: The Milton Park Community bordered by Ste-Famille St., Milton St., Pine Ave. and Hutchison St.

Milton Park is the kind of classically romantic neighbourhood Montreal is famous for. Yet its stately Victorian greystones were almost lost to development. A six-block section of the neighbourhood was slated for demolition and redevelopment in the late-’60s, but spared after residents fought to preserve the heritage homes.

In 1979, members of the Milton Park Citizen’s Committee began building what would become the largest community housing project on a community land trust in North America, which now houses 1,500 people.

On Nov. 3, the Milton Park Citizen’s Committee is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a public conference, From The Ground Up, to explore thought-provoking ideas about the economic and social impacts of co-op housing, including how co-ops can help protect land and homes from becoming unaffordable because of real estate speculation.

According to community organizer Dimitri Roussopoulos, the event will highlight how co-ops can be a stabilizing influence on real estate values within a city.

“The real estate market goes up and down and sideways and forwards. There’s so much speculation and foreign interest that comes in and it mixes things up,” he said. “This conference is a major attempt to introduce a stabilizing influence on all that.”

The free conference, which also includes lunch and dinner, will be held at the Université du Québec à Montréal (175 President Kennedy Ave.), in the Coeur des sciences’ SU-1150 amphitheatre. Child care is also available on site. For more information on the event, visit ccmp-mpcc.com.

For French-speakers, on Nov. 12, the Société de Habitation du Québec will present a full-day program at the 12th annual Rendez-vous de l’habitation at the Terminal de croisières in the Old Port. In addition to topics related to co-op housing, the program includes panel discussions about alternative financing models for affordable housing projects, tenants’ rights, and reducing social isolation for seniors. Details are at habitation.gouv.qc.ca/rendezvous.

Although prices in Montreal haven’t risen anywhere close to the heights seen in Vancouver and Toronto, it is driving up the cost of both homes and rents in a city where, by Statistics Canada’s count, one in 10 residents are living in substandard or unaffordable housing. Co-op housing is a way for communities to ensure safe and affordable homes are available.