Thank you for your interest in Okanagan Housing Co-op! Living in a housing Co-op means participation and sharing your skills with one another. The members of Okanagan Housing Co-op come from a variety of cultural, social-economic and philosophical experiences. We are a diverse community and are looking forward to meeting you!
If you enjoy volunteering your time and are willing to commit to community living, please take the time to fill out an application form. Come and see what Co-op living is all about! You can apply by completing all sections of the application and submitting copies of all required information.
Your application will be carefully reviewed to determine whether you are eligible for membership in our Co-op. All applicants will be subject to reference checks. You will be contacted to meet with members of the Membership Committee for an initial interview as vacancies arise. All family and/or non-family applicants who will be residing in the Co-op must attend the interview.
To send enquiries or to apply online, please email us at [email protected]!
(Please note: There are no subsidies available for new applicants.)
Frequently asked questions about our co-op
– Floor Plans
We do not provide floor plans or layouts of the styles of units. We also do not do walkthroughs with potential applicants. You will walkthrough the unit when it is being offered to you.
Stackers are 1 level: 2bdrm, 1 bath, approx 900 sqft
Townhouse 2bdrm + 3brdm are 3 levels: both have 1.5 bath, and are approx 1200
– Pet Policy
We only accept applicants that at the time of move in have maximum of 2 cats and/or dogs total.
At the time of move in we need to have proof of spay/neutering, and proof of dog registration with our local Regional District Central Okanagan – Dog Registry
You may also have contained pets (fish, birds, gerbils, hamsters or guinea pig). The board may withhold permission for other contained pets.
– Wait time/Vacancy
We field many questions from excited applicants such as yourself, that are eager to move to our coop.
Unfortunately, there is no time frame or approximation that we can give for how long it will take from the time of completed application submitted to move in. Sometimes as short as a few months, 6 months, maybe taking a few years. We do not provide urgent or emergency housing.
There are many moving pieces such as the type of unit available: inspections, repairs and maintenance, and internal moves that can all take place when a unit becomes available.
Not every applicant is eligible for every unit, meaning we assess to make sure a unit is appropriately housed (persons per each bedroom). This can lengthen the wait time within the accepted applicant pool.
We also do not give approximation for how long it takes to find out if you’re an accepted candidate in our pool of applicants. There are many steps to reviewing applications and we are working as volunteers.
We will do our best to communicate with you. Please be patient and do not email to ask about wait times or vacancies or where in the process your application is. We will let you know next steps should your application be accepted or declined.
If your finances or occupancy changes such as you have a baby, separate, or have another person living with you — that will be permanent or part of moving into our coop, please make sure to let us know to update the application and provide the appropriate supporting documents; emailing membership due to these circumstances are appropriate.
– Rent vs Housing Charges
Co-operative housing does not charge rent as we have no landlord. We are not governed by the Rental Tenancy Board. We are governed by the Co-op Act of Canada and other rules and regulations specific to our co-op.
We refer to our monthly “rent” as either monthly housing charge or occupancy fees.
Housing charge or occupancy fees is an amount the co-op needs to break even, after paying all of our operating expenses and setting money aside for long-term capital repairs.
We do not give out the amount of the monthly occupancy fee until you are being offered a unit. We do not know when a unit will be available and what the occupancy fees will be at the future time. We increase our occupancy fees every year.
– Income Requirements
Applicants must prove a minimum household income of $50,000 per year to qualify for a unit.
– Subsidy/Low Income Housing
We are a non-profit housing co-op with a mixed income community for people with a range of income levels. We currently only offer subsidy to current members of our community.
We do not offer subsidy for new applicants.
– Remember…
The Board of Directors and membership committee are all made up of volunteers. Many of us work full time, have families, and are involved in other community extracurricular activities, or live with/ is a person with disabilities.
We strive to balance work + life + coop volunteering. Many of the duties and responsibilities are administrative and communicative, we ask that you are patient with us as it can take time to respond to applicant questions, concerns, and comments.