Report by Jane M from the June 2026 CHF Canada AGM
What I Brought Home from the CHF Canada Conference
I wanted to share a few highlights from the CHF Canada Annual Meeting and Education Conference in Fredericton.
I took several workshops, and rather than go through every detail, I thought I’d share the ideas that I felt could be most useful to us as a co-op.
1. Creating Affirming Spaces
One workshop focused on creating affirming spaces for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
What I found particularly useful was that it wasn’t simply about knowing terminology. It was really about asking ourselves:
- Who is represented in our community, and who isn’t?
- What barriers might people be experiencing?
- How do we create an environment where people feel respected and safe?
- What small things can we do now, and what changes require more planning and resources?
There was also a strong emphasis on active allyship — not simply being personally accepting, but knowing how to respond when we see disrespectful or oppressive behaviour.
One simple framework was to disrupt, distract, delegate, or delay, depending on the situation.
And if we make a mistake, the ABC approach was:
A — Apologize and acknowledge the impact.
B — Be empathetic and listen.
C — Commit to doing better and continuing to learn.
I think the broader lesson applies to our whole co-op: creating a respectful community takes ongoing attention, not just a policy sitting in a binder.
2. Financial Literacy
Another workshop was called Why Are Financial Statements Important?
The main message was that financial statements aren’t just something the Board or accountant looks at once a year.
They give us a picture of the organization’s financial health, help us track performance, support decision-making, and can be important for lenders, funders, compliance, transparency and credibility.
We also looked at basic financial ratios. One example was working capital, which is:
Current Assets minus Current Liabilities.
The point wasn’t that everyone needs to become an accountant. It’s that Board members and members should have enough financial literacy to understand what the numbers are telling us and ask informed questions.
3. Assessing the Health of Our Democracy
This was one of the workshops I found particularly interesting.
It looked at democratic health within a housing co-op using questions such as:
- Does the Board have a variety of backgrounds, ages, knowledge and skills?
- Are there regular Board vacancies?
- Are Board members frequently acclaimed rather than elected through a contested process?
- Are Board agendas and minutes available to members?
- Can members observe open Board meetings?
- Does the co-op provide regular Board training?
- Are new members given orientation?
- Does the Board obtain legal or expert advice when necessary?
What I liked about this approach is that it gives us questions to ask ourselves rather than assuming that because we are a co-op, our democracy is automatically healthy.
It made me think about how we can continually strengthen member participation, transparency and Board accountability.
4. Annual Unit Inspections
We also had a workshop on annual unit inspections.
The inspections aren’t simply about looking for things that are wrong inside someone’s unit.
They can help a co-op understand its overall maintenance needs, identify emerging problems, plan capital replacements, develop realistic maintenance budgets and reduce the risk of expensive problems being discovered too late.
So inspections can actually be an important planning and financial tool for the whole co-op.
5. Greener Co-op Micro-Grants
There were also some very practical ideas around Greener Co-op Micro-Grants.
Examples included:
- Garden beds
- Bicycle rooms
- Lighting upgrades
- EV chargers
- Rain barrels
- Composting
- Insulation
- Functional clotheslines
- Thermostats
- Smart water-heater controllers
I thought this was interesting because some environmental improvements don’t have to be enormous capital projects. There may be opportunities to make relatively small, practical improvements that save money, improve quality of life, or reduce energy use.
6. Maintenance Policies
Another workshop looked at creating and reviewing maintenance policies.
The big message was don’t just have policies — have policies that people understand and that reflect the community’s needs.
Some of the questions were:
- Who participates in creating our policies?
- When were our policies last reviewed?
- Are they written in plain language?
- Are they accessible to members?
- Do we have a defined policy-review process?
- What is the purpose — the “why” — behind each policy?
- What legal, regulatory or occupancy requirements do we need to consider?
I particularly liked the idea of having open conversations about the purpose of a policy before getting into arguments about the wording of the policy.
7. Negotiating Good Co-op Solutions
Another workshop dealt with conflict resolution and negotiation.
One of the most useful concepts was interest-based problem solving.
Instead of focusing on:
“This is my position and this is your position,”
we try to understand:
“What does each person actually need or care about underneath those positions?”
The principles were:
- Separate the people from the problem.
- Focus on interests rather than positions.
- Frame the issue as a shared problem.
- Generate several possible solutions before deciding.
- Use objective criteria where possible.
- And use “I” statements.
There was also a reminder that bias is automatic — our brains make assumptions and associations without us necessarily realizing it.
The practical advice was to pause, stay curious, and not immediately personalize someone’s behaviour or position.
I think that could be particularly useful in a co-op, where we’re not just dealing with policies — we’re living beside each other.
And My Favourite: Mental Health First Aid
The workshop that had the biggest impact on me was a six-hour Mental Health First Aid course that took place before the conference officially began.
It was based on the Mental Health First Aid program developed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
The focus was very practical: what do we do when we notice that someone — a colleague, neighbour, employee, or co-op member — seems to be struggling with their mental health?
And importantly, it included what to do when someone may be experiencing a mental-health crisis or thoughts of suicide.
The course gave us a framework called ALGEE.
Very simply:
A — Approach, assess and assist with any crisis.
L — Listen and communicate without judgment.
G — Give reassurance and information.
E — Encourage appropriate professional help.
E — Encourage other supports, such as family, friends and other sources of support.
And there was also an important reminder that the person providing support needs to look after themselves, too.
What I really liked about this course was that it wasn’t teaching us to become therapists. It was teaching us how to notice, approach, listen, respond appropriately and connect someone with help.
One idea I’d like us to consider
Because co-ops are communities, we inevitably encounter people who are struggling — whether that’s with isolation, grief, mental illness, addiction, aging, family difficulties or a crisis.
So I wondered whether Mental Health First Aid might be a worthwhile course for members of our Education Committee, Board members, or perhaps interested members generally.
It could give people some basic tools and confidence for responding appropriately when someone in our community is having a difficult time.
Final Thought
The biggest thing I brought home from the conference was that a healthy co-op isn’t just about maintaining buildings.
It’s also about maintaining a healthy community.
That means financial literacy, good maintenance planning, thoughtful policies, democratic participation, respectful communication, environmental responsibility — and knowing how to support one another when someone is struggling.
Those are all things we can continue to work on together.
🇨🇦 CHF Canada Annual Meeting & AGM — 2027
📍 Hamilton, Ontario — not Toronto
📅 June 10–12, 2027