Event Category: COCHF

Please see the event package (PDF) for more details, including the full-day agenda.

Crowne Plaza Kitchener
105 King St E
Kitchener, ON N2G 2K8 (map)

Registration Deadline: April 12, 2026

COCHF’s Annual General Meeting will be held online and in-person during the 2026 Spring Education Event at Crowne Plaza Kitchener. See the event package (PDF) for more details about the full-day event.

Registration Deadline: April 12, 2026

Meeting Notice, Delegate Registration and Board Nomination Forms (PDF)

Important dates:

• All Board nominations must be filed by March 24.
• Delegate and alternate forms must be sent in by April 2.
• An online candidate meeting will be held on April 8.
• Advanced voting will be open from April 8 to April 21. Voting will continue during the AGM.
• A complete meeting package will be emailed to registrants before April 15.

Please see the Meeting Notice package linked above for more details.

COCHF’s Annual General Meeting will be held online and in-person during the 2026 Spring Education Event. See the event package (PDF) for the full-day agenda.

Crowne Plaza Kitchener
105 King St E
Kitchener, ON N2G 2K8 (map)

Registration Deadline: April 12, 2026

Meeting Notice, Delegate Registration and Board Nomination Forms (PDF)

Important dates:

• All Board nominations must be filed by March 24.
• Delegate and alternate forms must be sent in by April 2.
• An online candidate meeting will be held on April 8.
• Advanced voting will be open from April 8 to April 21. Voting will continue during the AGM.
• A complete meeting package will be emailed to registrants before April 15.

Please see the Meeting Notice package linked above for more details.

This workshop is one of four afternoon options for the 2026 COCHF Spring Education Event. Please see the event package (PDF) for more details, including the full-day agenda.

Crowne Plaza Kitchener
105 King St E
Kitchener, ON N2G 2K8 (map)

Member Cost: $105 for the day. Additional attendees from the same organization are $85 each.

Non-Members: $150 for the day.

Registration Deadline: April 12, 2026

Workshop Details

Is your co-op struggling with member engagement? Are you looking for a way to increase your understanding of your community and your place within it? Join us as we delve within and beyond community engagement! We will use an interactive, hands-on activity that embodies the co-op principles and reflects the connection between individuals, their experiences, and their community. We will then explore the various approaches and tools needed for the important work of member engagement to occur and flourish.

Sarah Burnett Murray

Sarah holds several post-secondary diplomas and degrees, and is a published author and poet.  She has been involved in Co-op housing for as long as she can remember. She firmly believes in fostering the sharing of knowledge and community support within the sector which is what inspired her to become increasingly involved in 2013.

Carine Nind, COCHF

Carine has been the general manager at Willowside Housing Co-operative for 20 years, and has been an outspoken advocate for co-op housing and initiatives to reduce experiences of homelessness.

This workshop is one of four afternoon options for the 2026 COCHF Spring Education Event. Please see the event package (PDF) for more details, including the full-day agenda.

Crowne Plaza Kitchener
105 King St E
Kitchener, ON N2G 2K8 (map)

Member Cost: $105 for the day. Additional attendees from the same organization are $85 each.

Non-Members: $150 for the day.

Registration Deadline: April 12, 2026

Workshop Details

One of the core concepts of living in housing co-ops is that we create community – and community takes care of one another. However, sometimes that level of care for others becomes challenging and intense over prolonged periods of time.

We face risk of elevated levels of stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue, where it becomes difficult to be helpful and compassionate. This experience can result in personal strain that can show up as physical, mental, or emotional stress.

Join this informative and interactive session to further explore:

• The source and signs of compassion fatigue
• The difference between burnout and compassion fatigue
• The ways we can help ourselves
• The ways to help others

Sonia Byrne

Sonia has been leading board retreats, strategic planning and succession planning projects in the Co-op Housing Sector since 2009. Learn more about Sonia at www.soniabyrne.com.

This workshop is one of four afternoon options for the 2026 COCHF Spring Education Event. Please see the event package (PDF) for more details, including the full-day agenda.

Crowne Plaza Kitchener
105 King St E
Kitchener, ON N2G 2K8 (map)

Member Cost: $105 for the day. Additional attendees from the same organization are $85 each.

Non-Members: $150 for the day.

Registration Deadline: April 12, 2026

Workshop Details

Come explore best practices and lessons learned from consultants and community leaders as they discuss how to approach large capital project and how to best support community impact. This session will be moderated and facilitated by GHCHF, PHCHF, and COCHF new educators.

Panelists

Twilla Maybury holds a Bachelor of Applied Science and has lived at Beaver Creek Housing Co-op for over fourteen years. During her time there, she has been involved in various committees and has served on the Board of Directors for ten years, currently holding the position of President.

Tim Welch, Tim Welch Consulting

Michael Norris, Manager, Co-operative Housing Development, CHF Canada

PLUS: Representatives from COCHF’s financial partners

This workshop is one of four afternoon options for the 2026 COCHF Spring Education Event. Please see the event package (PDF) for more details, including the full-day agenda.

Crowne Plaza Kitchener
105 King St E
Kitchener, ON N2G 2K8 (map)

Member Cost: $105 for the day. Additional attendees from the same organization are $85 each.

Non-Members: $150 for the day.

Registration Deadline: April 12, 2026

Workshop Details

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act has been an important part of the co-op legal landscape since 2005. Ontario organizations like co-ops are required to follow the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation that set standards related to customer service, information and communications, employment, transportation, and design of public spaces. This affects how co-ops interact with the public, their members, and their staff. Join former sector lawyer, Celia Chandler, as she explains a co-op’s responsibilities under AODA, and provides the training directors of co-ops will need to comply with the legislation. She will issue completion certificates for all those who attend the full session.

Celia Chandler

Celia Chandler began her career at the City of Toronto and then in an environmental organization, but has worked for two decades now in the affordable housing sector, first as a lawyer in a small Toronto law firm and now as the Deputy Executive Director of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto.  When she’s not doing her part for the housing crisis, she’s sitting in her Toronto laneway suite blogging and working on a book.

This workshop is one of four morning options for the 2026 COCHF Spring Education Event. Please see the event package (PDF) for more details, including the full-day agenda.

Crowne Plaza Kitchener
105 King St E
Kitchener, ON N2G 2K8 (map)

Member Cost: $105 for the day. Additional attendees from the same organization are $85 each.

Non-Members: $150 for the day.

Registration Deadline: April 12, 2026

Workshop Details

Join Josie Parisi for an in-depth look at four critical segments of your organization’s financial stability: Budgeting variance analysis, procurement, and understanding financial statements.

Josie Parisi, BDO

Josie is a Partner with BDO and specializes in corporate restructuring and insolvency. She has over 25 years of experience providing restructuring, due diligence, divestiture and consulting services to middle to large market companies across a variety of industries. Josie is a and Licensed Insolvency Trustee, Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Business Valuator, Chartered Insolvency and Restructuring Professional and obtained her Honors Bachelor Business Administration from the University of Windsor.

This workshop is one of four morning options for the 2026 COCHF Spring Education Event. Please see the event package (PDF) for more details, including the full-day agenda.

Crowne Plaza Kitchener
105 King St E
Kitchener, ON N2G 2K8 (map)

Member Cost: $105 for the day. Additional attendees from the same organization are $85 each.

Non-Members: $150 for the day.

Registration Deadline: April 12, 2026

Workshop Details

Reconciliation is an ongoing process for us all.

What role do Co-ops have? How do we have these conversations at the Co-op board table? What can we do as members, boards, and the housing sector to build community? In Continuing Conversations, we will discuss Truth and Reconciliation and how we move forward, together.

April Ager-White, CHF Board Member

April Ager-White is a family-centered Indigenous entrepreneur and housing advocate, advancing community-led, culturally rooted solutions.

This workshop is one of four morning options for the 2026 COCHF Spring Education Event. Please see the event package (PDF) for more details, including the full-day agenda.

Crowne Plaza Kitchener
105 King St E
Kitchener, ON N2G 2K8 (map)

Member Cost: $105 for the day. Additional attendees from the same organization are $85 each.

Non-Members: $150 for the day.

Registration Deadline: April 12, 2026

Workshop Details

Housing co-ops rely on management for the day-to-day functioning of their co-op. Staff managers hold knowledge of key information and processes that keep the co-op running smoothly.

So, what do co-ops do when staff are sick, move on to a new job, or retire? How can co-ops plan to ensure that transitions between staff are seamless, information isn’t lost, and work isn’t duplicated?

In this interactive workshop, participants will be introduced to takeaway tools to support effective communication and smoother operations. You will be able to put these tools into place immediately to ensure you have the information required to keep your co-op operating through a staff transition:

• Gain a better understanding of why things change
• Get introduced to the 3 C’s of moving through transitions
• Explore ways to navigate the unexpected with the 4 P’s
• Learn how to utilize the business continuity toolkit to ensure smoother sailing

Sonia Byrne

Sonia has been leading board retreats, strategic planning and succession planning projects in the Co-op Housing Sector since 2009. Learn more about Sonia at www.soniabyrne.com.

Sophie Taylor, PHCHF

Sophie is the Executive Director of Peel/Halton Co-operative Housing Federation (PHCHF). She is a dynamic facilitator and sector advocate with a strong background in community development, stakeholder relations, property management, and marketing.