For our 2023 Annual Report, the Agency is reflecting on its roots. Aesop’s fable, The Tortoise and the Hare, resonates for the Agency on many levels. His story is our story, as told in our 2023 Annual Report.
Like the tortoise, the Agency started slowly. The idea was not welcomed by a government poised to download all federal housing programs to the provinces. It took a nine-year lobby by co-op members across the country to change the government’s mind about a sector-owned agency for housing co-operatives.
At first, we struggled to convince our co-op clients that we were there to help them succeed. Gradually, a few at a time, they saw that, as fellow co-operators, we shared principles and goals. Year after year, housing co-op operations got better by every measure.
As administrators of the Rental Assistance Program (FCHI-2), the Agency decided that our clients needed online tools to help them meet the requirements of this limited but complex new program. As the rules shifted under our feet, our staff had to backtrack, sometimes redoing their development work. Progress was slow, but we persisted.
Our first taste of success came in 2022 with the launch of the well-regarded Self Assessment and Action Plan. These tools gave co-ops a way to analyze their needs and figure out how to meet them over a three-year period. The Action Plan was more than a program requirement. It was a useful planning tool for co-operatives looking into the future.
After many setbacks, in 2023 we released the Online Calculator, which enables housing co-ops to calculate each assisted household’s monthly payment automatically, adjusting for credits and charges. While a co-op needs time for the initial set-up, the tool preserves this basic information from year to year, requiring only annual updates as finances fluctuate and members come and go. In launching the Online Calculator, the Agency finally reached its goal, winning through diligence, persistence and hard work.
Our Annual Report also shares information about client satisfaction and client concerns and complaints. Automated tracking of staff performance enables us to report on the achievement, or otherwise, of our published client-service standards.
We also have beautiful photos of client co-ops and some of Agency staff at work and play.
All in all, it was a hard-working year, but we did cross the finish line.