On Thursday November 4, I had the pleasure of attending the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto’s (CHFT) annual awards evening at St. Lawrence Hall. This was the 14th year CHFT recognized and celebrated the many accomplishments of its member co-ops.

Among the co-op members waiting to receive their awards were a number of local politicians, including Rosario Marchese (MPP, Trinity Spadina), Adam Vaughan (Toronto City Councillor), Peter Tabuns (MPP, Toronto-Danforth) and Glen Murray (MPP, Toronto Centre).

Co-operatives were honoured for a range of accomplishments. Gardening efforts, for example, were recognized with awards such as the Gardens of Distinction, Outdoor Garden, Vegetable Garden, Rooftop Garden, Hall of Fame Garden and the Combined Garden. There were also awards for newsletters, websites, youth involvement, living in diversity and the achievement of the year, to name a few.

SHSC sponsored the Hall of Fame Garden Award and I was delighted to attend the event as SHSC’s representative and the presenter of the Gardens of Distinction Award. Although I attended the event in an official capacity, I truly enjoy these events on a personal level. I have a long history of involvement with the Co-operative Housing sector, having served on the Ontario Council for almost 8 years, many of those as its President. One of the reasons that I feel so passionately about co-operative housing is because of its focus on its members – the people who make up its community.

Sometimes we in the social housing sector tend to focus on the physical assets (the $40 billion housing stock asset in Ontario) or on property management. It is my belief, however, that while these areas are very important and must continue to be nurtured, we must never lose sight of the people that reside in this housing. Housing is not just “units”, it is people’s homes. If you had the opportunity to view all of the slides showing the numerous gardens I mentioned above, you would undoubtedly see the pride that these co-op members have in their homes and the efforts they are willing to contribute to make their homes and communities better places to live and call home.

To close out this blog, I’d like to note the CHFT staff who marked their 20th anniversary with the organization. They were also recognized at the event. Congratulations to both Angela Calderone and Judith Collins who both have made “people” their focus over the past 20 years.

I am already looking forward to attending next year’s event where CHFT will be introducing a new “Green Award”. To all the members of the co-operatives highlighted last Thursday evening, I salute and commend you for your achievements!

Back in mid-October, SHSC sent a delegation to the first International Social Housing Summit (ISH) to learn about approaches to social housing from around the world.

Nearly 300 people from 22 countries attended. The conference was focused on 3 streams: financing, sustainability and shifting demographics. With its working table lunches, receptions and informative sessions, the conference afforded us among the contingent a great opportunity to share knowledge, good practices and information from housing practitioners across countries.

A dominant topic of conversation among both delegates and speakers was what government austerity measures prompted by the global economic crisis would mean for the future of social housing – particularly in Britain, where deep cuts were anticipated in the week following the conference.

For us Canadians, such discussion was eerily familiar, having gone through a similar series of cuts and reforms that started in the 1990s. At ISH, Derek Ballantyne, former CEO of Toronto Community Housing and current COO of Build Toronto, spoke on the Canadian experience at two panel discussion sessions. His comments prompted considerable interest in the Canadian experience.

Some highlights: Michael Scharp’s presentation on engaging tenants in sustainable practice and BewarE’s case studies provided insights to bring home for GLOBE’s Community Champions Program. Sessions by Professor Helmut Krapmeier on passive housing about the CEPHEUS Austria programme and by Martin Townsend on energy saving retrofit projects by BRE Group also excited considerable interest. David Cowans from Places for People in the UK talked about placemaking and mused about how a neightbourhood pub could contribute more to creating community than engineered community programming. Presentations by Mirko Immendörfer and Branislava Zarkovic reported on experiments in social housing relating to the elderly – the former focused on a building created specifically for elderly tenants suffering from dementia, the latter for particularly vulnerable people – the elderly and the disabled — who were displaced as a result of the civil war in the former Yugoslavia.

Want more information on the conference? ISHSUM Report or email us.

Attending conferences can be great learning and networking experiences, but they can also end up being a missed opportunity, expensive and a waste of time. With the 2010 ONPHA (Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association) Conference coming up on November 19, here are some tips to help you get the most out of your conference experience.

Prior to Attending a Conference

• Book a room at the conference’s preferred hotel: If you’re coming from out of town, this will enhance your opportunities to meet new people, network and expand on your learning beyond the sessions.
• Don’t forget your business cards: Business cards help other attendees remember you, and provide them with a way to maintain contact after the conference is over.
• Be prepared to provide an overview on your organization: When you are at the conference, you are a representative of your organization and, as such, may be asked to informally summarize your organization’s core mandate or speak to its current business activities. You can prepare yourself by reviewing key business materials produced by your organization (e.g. its website, strategic plan, annual report, overview presentations).

At the Conference

• Are you going for professional development or on behalf of the organization? There is a difference in terms of expectations on what you’ll bring back. With the latter, you will likely be expected to report back to your colleagues. Take notes, pick up materials from information sessions and plan your report back. This might take the form of a short email, a lunch and learn session, or a powerpoint presentation on the conference highlights.
• Don’t travel in a herd: Though it may feel comfortable to stick together with colleagues, you should try to make a conscious effort at splitting up so you take advantage of the opportunity to network and have discussions with others.
• Remember that the presenters aren’t the only source of learning: Pay attention to those who ask questions at the conference sessions. You may want to approach them after to continue the discussion. Conferences are as much about learning from peers as they are from the presentations.
• Attend the receptions or meet and greets: This is a great way to network, and continue discussions from the sessions you attended. While these functions are informal, it’s important to maintain a professional demeanor since you are representing your organization.
• Collect business cards and write down on them a line or two about your interaction with the person: This will give you the opportunity to follow up after the conference. A quick note on the back of the business card will remind you who the person is and help them remember you.

After the Conference

• Debrief with other colleagues that attended: Meet with your co-workers who attended sessions you were not present at, so you can share and discuss what each of you learned.
• Follow up with people you met at the conference: ‘Loose’ connections are often the most helpful because they don’t know the same people you know and may have business insights you don’t have access to. Consider maintaining your connections with business social networking sites like linkedin.com
• Share knowledge with colleagues that didn’t attend: To maximize the knowledge you gained at the conference, consider preparing a report or presentation on what you learned.

Keep these tips in mind when attending your next conference and you will take full advantage of your time while you’re there.

On May 12, 2010 the Ontario government introduced Bill 65, the Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 (the Act). Bill 65 is the result of consultations that have been taking place between the government and non-profit organizations across Ontario since 2008. As of October, the Not-for-Profit Corporations Act has entered third reading debate in the House.

How it will affect non-profits

The purpose of Bill 65 is to modernize the existing Ontario Corporations Act, which deals with non-profit corporations. Last updated in 1953, the proposed new Act accounts for new technologies and permits the use of electronic notifications instead of requiring newspaper announcements to alert board members of upcoming meetings.

Bill 65 will apply to any non-profit housing corporation incorporated under the Ontario Corporations Act. It will not affect co-operatives or local housing corporations that are incorporated under different acts.

What non-profits will need to do

Non-profit housing corporations will need to be aware that when it comes into effect, Bill 65 will make it necessary for current letters patent, by-laws, and supplementary letters patent to be amended within a three year period. If a non-profit corporation does not amend these documents within three years, Bill 65 states that they will be deemed to be amended to the extent necessary to conform with the new Act.

This may create some confusion if a non-profit hasn’t actually amended their documents. It is in a non-profit’s best interest to amend their current letters patent and by-laws to conform to the Act in order to avoid confusion. To assist with this, the government will be making available information guides and standard organizational by-laws to help non-profits comply with the new Act.

Benefits of Bill 65

While Bill 65 will mean changes for non-profits, it contains many positive safe guards that will benefit not-for-profit organizations across Ontario, such as:

• Clarifying the liability of directors by replacing common law duties of care with an explicit statutory standard of care, introducing due diligence and good faith reliance defences, expanding the rights of directors to indemnification and allowing unrestricted liability insurance coverage;
• Allowing not-for-profit corporations to engage in commercial activities where the revenues are reinvested in the corporation’s not-for-profit purposes; and
• Enhancing corporate governance and accountability in that persons who enter into contract with a not-for-profit corporation will generally be entitled to presume that the contract has been properly authorized.

For more information on the many ways Bill 65 will affect not-for-profit corporations, as well as information on upcoming consultations and submissions check out the Ontario Non-profit Network’s website .

You can also view the Bill, its current status and review background information on the website of the Ontario Legislative Assembly.

VERONICA HENRI,Toronto Sun

As a fourth year Urban and Regional Planning student at Ryerson University, a housing activist in my community and a part-time employee at SHSC for the past three years, I was eager to volunteer my time to assist the residents who were being displaced from their homes after the fire at 200 Wellesley Street East.

Watching the news, I learned that the fire lead to the evacuation of the Toronto Community Housing (TCHC) building’s more than 1,200 residents. The fire at the building was the biggest apartment fire in Toronto’s recent history, where many residents were without insurance.

All I could think about was how I would feel – leaving everything behind with just the clothes on my back and without money to replace important belongings.

Along with SHSC, I began helping in any way possible. SHSC donated 269 new complete beds, as well as microwaves, kitchenware, cleaning kits, towels and gift cards for drug stores to ease residents’ transition back to their homes.

SHSC Donates Home Starter Kits

Following the fire, I went to 325 Bleeker Street with SHSC staff, Zara Hemmings and Fiona Harvey, to join Cynthia Ross, SHSC’s Director of Social Innovation and Partnerships, and staff from TCHC to prepare home starter kits for households who were displaced by the fire. The kits included pillows, bed sheets, blankets, towels, toilet paper, paper towel, utensils and dishes. Residents were extremely appreciative and touched to receive the support.

Thanksgiving Dinner for Residents

STEVE RUSSELL,Toronto Star

Over this past Thanksgiving weekend SHSC and TCHC hosted a Thanksgiving Dinner for residents of 200 Wellesley St. East. Nearly 100 volunteers served 1,516 pieces of chicken, 50 apple and pumpkin pies, and 160 kilograms of potatoes to the 600 residents who attended the dinner.

It has been two weeks since the fire broke out at 200 Wellesley St. East, and as of today, there are no longer any tenants staying overnight at the Wellesley Community Centre. Some have been allowed back into their units, while others have been housed temporarily in hotels, moved to long-term care facilities and other TCHC buildings.

It was heart-warming to see everyone put their own priorities on hold and join in a collaborative effort to support those affected by the fire and ease the recovery process.

Visit the TCHC website to learn how you can donate and get updates on the situation.

When looking for information on social housing resources or news online, sometimes blogs get overlooked. If you’re not subscribed or regularly visiting any (other than this one of course), you’re missing out on a great source of easily accessible and useful information.

What differentiates blogs from corporate websites are their focus on opinion-sharing and encouragement of discussion on current issues. Here are three blogs from the social housing sector that you follow to keep up-to-date on what’s new and what’s important in the sector.

Canadian Social Housing Observer

Who: Sally Turner is a social housing researcher who analyzes modern policies across Canada. Some of her latest posts cover Canada’s Economic Action Plan, York University’s study on the link between housing and health, and the collaboration between a real estate development firm, Daniels, and Habitat for Humanity.

Why you should read it: To get the latest on policy and research information on social housing. Though the last post was back in June, 2010, it has an extensive and useful archive, provides links to valuable policy and research information, as well as to Sally’s own research.

• www.housingobserver.com

Wellesley Institute Blog

Who: The Wellesley Institute is a non-profit and non-partisan research and policy institute based in Toronto, with a focus on urban health and health disparities, research and community-based policy resolutions. Some of the subject areas you’ll find information on include: government funding and programs, income, and homelessness.

Why you should read it: Covering a wide range of topics, this is one of the most comprehensive blogs on issues in the sector today. Consistently updated, with multiple writers posting regularly, the Wellesley Institute blog is a great resource.

• www.wellesleyinstitute.com/blog/

Victoria Park Community Homes Blog

Who: Victoria Park Community Homes is a private, non profit corporation that provides affordable housing in southern Ontario. Their blog is relatively new, with their first post dating back to July, 2010.

Why you should read it: Though still fairly new, this blog will give you the perspective of a housing provider and the issues they face. Additionally, they post responses to building-specific questions about their properties.

• www.vpch.blogspot.com/

What comes to mind when you think of customer service? Line-ups at the bank?

The dreaded “press 1 for accounts payable”, “press 2 for sales”, “press 0 to be placed on hold for several hours”?

Or perhaps it’s the nice lady at the coffee shop who always remembers your order?

How about the people you work with and/or your Board of Directors? Do you consider them your customers?

Most of us do not think of our colleagues as customers or clients. That’s because we tend to associate the notion of customers with the exchange of money – this person buys a product or service from me, therefore he or she is my customer. While this is true, such “external” customers only make up a portion of your client base. You probably have a number of “internal” customers as well.

So what exactly is an internal customer? Mark Rosenberger has a good definition:

An internal customer is anyone you count on or rely upon to complete a task or a function or to provide you with information so that you can get your job done…and anyone who counts on you to complete a task or function or to provide them with information so that they can get their job done.

The way we treat co-workers says a lot about how we interact with our traditional “customers”, however they are defined. Many workplaces tend to become casual over time, especially in the not-for-profit world. We relate to coworkers in much the same way as family and friends. While this can make for a positive work environment, the downside is protocols may become relaxed. One fairly stress-free way to combat this is to begin to view our colleagues through the customer service lens.

Let me give you an example: Say you are a manager and you’re taking an extra-long weekend. You neglect to inform the person in charge of maintenance that you won’t be in on Friday or Monday, and he is counting on you to sign a critical purchase order. He assumes you will be in the office on Friday to authorize the expenditure.

Set aside for the moment that the maintenance person should not have assumed. As your customer, he has an expectation that you will be at work during regular business hours. Any variation from the norm must be communicated.

Here are just a few tips to improve your internal customer service:

• Come to work on time: While this may sound like common sense, it can be very disruptive to a co-worker if you arrive late. For example, let’s say your shift begins at noon, which is the same time that a colleague is scheduled to leave for lunch. He can’t take his break until you get to work. It’s basic consideration.

• Keep your voice-mail message up-to-date. That means ensuring that the message always identifies who you are, what day it is, and when you will (and won’t) be available.

• Same thing for email: Outlook has an Out of Office Assistant that can be activated to respond to incoming messages, letting folks know how long you will be away and when a reply can be expected. Other email programs have similar features.

• Post your hours on your office door: If you need to go out unexpectedly, indicate when you will return.

The bottom line is really to treat your colleagues, be they paid staff or volunteers, with respect. When everyone raises the bar for internal customers, the overall level of customer service will increase as well.

How will HST affect you?

We are all aware that Ontario’s tax structure has changed and that the HST (Harmonised Sales Tax) came into effect July 01, 2010.  There has been a lot of media coverage on how the HST will affect our goods and services, but not on how it will affect owners, operators and managers of real property.  The Toronto law firm Blaney McMurtry LLP, has published an article that speaks to this very timely topic.  The article focuses on the purchase and sale of commercial real property, leases and licences of commercial real property, the purchase and sale of newly constructed residential property and the resale of residential property.

Read the Article >>

Last month I attended the 2010 ENERGY STAR® Participants Gala in Ottawa, hosted by Natural Resources Canada.

I was there with SHSC CEO Lindsey Reed and Board Chair Roger Maloney to accept the ENERGY STAR® Collaborative Initiative of the Year Award. This award honours those who, through partnerships, help businesses and consumers save money and contribute to Canada’s climate change objectives.

SHSC captured the award for its light bulb replacement and appliance bulk buy programs. Over these past three years, SHSC in collaboration with its subsidiary GLOBE, Toronto Hydro, housing providers and residents installed over 136,000 ENERGY STAR® compact fluorescent bulbs in 30,000 housing units and reduced more than 6.5 MegaWatts in electricity demand from the grid.

In 2009, SHSC launched its Appliance Bulk Buy program, offering ENERGY STAR® qualified appliances, as well as the environmental decommissioning of old appliances. This collaboration of not-for-profit housing corporations, municipalities, appliance manufacturers and government agencies has resulted in the sale of 3,000 ENERGY STAR^® qualified refrigerators.

According to the ENERGY STAR® Saving Calculator, the direct environmental benefit of these two programs is equivalent to taking over 320 cars off the road or planting 160,000 trees. Roger accepted the award on behalf of SHSC. He shared the stage with other award recipients from different categories, including:

• Whirlpool Canada
• Sears Canada
• Hydro-Québec
• Veridian Connections
• Manitoba Hydro
• Toshiba Canada
• Climate Change Central
• All Weather Windows
• JELD-WEN Canada

But SHSC isn’t resting on this recent accolade. In 2010, both programs are being expanded – with the launch of a new Toronto Hydro ‘Deep Measures Retrofit’ program and a province-wide ENERGY STAR®-certified Windows Bulk Buy program (more about the latter below).

Introducing New Windows and Sliding Glass Door Program
Following the success of these initiatives, SHSC will be launching a new ENERGY STAR® Windows and Sliding Glass Door program soon. Similar to previous bulk buy offering, SHSC acts as the administrator to ensure integrity to the process – we have established product standards, managed a public request for proposals and negotiated competitive prices with a volume rebate based on the participation of housing providers. Look out for the official launch of this brand new ENERGY STAR® initiative.

Much of what we do as housing providers will be influenced in the coming months by three key pieces of legislation: the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), the Ontario Human Rights Code (OHRC) and the Ontario Building Code (OBC).

What this alphabet soup of rules and regulations have in common is that each will affect the relationships that housing providers have with their applicants, residents and employees. In all likelihood, many housing providers will also see a financial impact resulting from the new laws.

For now let’s focus on the AODA

Ontario has had accessibility legislation in place for some time, not to mention the fact that the Human Rights Code has been in place since 1982. So why the sudden focus on disabilities?

Actually it’s not so unexpected. Quite frankly, Ontario has a pretty poor track record as far as protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. The Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA), which immediately pre-dated the AODA, lacked the legislative clout required for proper enforcement. Businesses, employers and others who discriminated against the disabled risked a complaint being filed with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, or even a lawsuit. However, given the expense and time required to carry out such actions, many folks who were allegedly targeted by discrimination simply gave up.

With the proclamation of the AODA in 2005, and the more recent focus on the Act’s Customer Care Standard, businesses and individuals are now concentrating on ensuring that the service they provide is compliant with the legislation. Most of the legislative changes have come about as a result of the Act’s sweeping and comprehensive definition of disability; in fact, the definition of disability in the AODA now mirrors that of the Human Rights Code.

And it’s a long list. According to Section 2 of the AODA, “disability” means:

any degree of physical disability, infirmity, malformation or disfigurement that is caused by bodily injury, birth defect or illness and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, a brain injury, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical co-ordination, blindness or visual impediment, deafness or hearing impediment, muteness or speech impediment, or physical reliance on a guide dog or other animal or on a wheelchair or other remedial appliance or device,

a condition of mental impairment or a developmental disability,

a learning disability, or a dysfunction in one or more of the processes involved in understanding or using symbols or spoken language,

a mental disorder, or

an injury or disability for which benefits were claimed or received under the insurance plan established under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997;

So what does all of this mean to housing providers? Well, for one thing we have to make sure that our ducks are in a row, so to speak.

The requirements for the Customer Service standard cover nine areas. Only the first seven apply to private sector or not-for-profit organizations with 1-19 employees. If your organization employs 20 or more individuals, you will also be required to document and report compliance to the Ministry:

• Policies, practices and procedures
• Training
• Feedback process
• Communication
• Service Animals
• Support Persons
• Notice of temporary disruption of service
• Documenting your compliance with the regulation
• Reporting

In addition to the Customer Service Standard, benchmarks are being developed in four key areas of daily living:

• Built Environment
• Employment
• Information and Communications
• Transportation

Not-for-profit organizations will need to be in compliance with the Customer Service standard by January 1, 2012. The goal is to have standards in place for all 5 areas of the AODA by 2025. So for now the focus is on ensuring that EVERYONE receives equal service predicated on recognizing individual independence, dignity, integration and equality of opportunity.

Eventually, as additional standards are entrenched in law, providers will undoubtedly receive requests for accommodation, which will include everything from widening doorways for wheelchairs and scooters, to installing fire alarms equipped with strobe lights for the hearing impaired, to allowing for the smoking of medical marijuana and creating barriers between those who smoke it and those who don’t.

More information:

• Ministry of Community and Social Services website
• The current and forthcoming issue SHSC Insurance newsletter Risky Business have articles on OHRC and medical marijuana
• SHSC Training has developed a full-day workshop, Ontario Human Rights Code Amendments – To be Forewarned is to be Forearmed! It provides an in-depth overview of the specific changes in the Ontario Human Rights Code. For further information, contact SHSC Training Manager Lisa Kotsopoulos at 416.594.9325 ext 242 or email lkotsopoulos@shscorp.ca