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This final principle is key. Right now, many lower-income residents living in unsubsidized units are paying far more than they should. While this may mean higher-income residents pay more rent in the future, many lower-income residents will see their rents go down. This is equitable and ensures the city uses this public asset in a way that helps the most people, something all residents in Vancouver expect.

Finally, I want to stress that our goal isn’t just to preserve the number of co-ops, but to expand them. As more people come to Vancouver to build their lives, we need solutions to our housing crisis. I believe co-ops are one of these solutions, but time is of the essence.

With the federal government moving ahead with the first comprehensive housing strategy since the 1990s, there is new hope for co-ops. There is $500 million available to help support low-income households in co-ops, funding I fought hard to access last summer but couldn’t because we didn’t have long-term leases in place.

I believe that this new approach will help get us there. That’s why I will be reaching out to the presidents of all 57 co-ops on city land to sit down with them face to face and hear their hopes and concerns. Then together we can get down to work pushing for the federal funding they deserve.

This won’t be easy, but if we get it right we could build up to 2,000 new co-ops homes in partnership with senior governments and the co-op housing sector. That’s 2,000 homes that will help a new generation of Vancouverites benefit from the co-op housing model. Imagine how life changing that could be.

Kennedy Stewart is mayor of Vancouver.

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