Supporting ageing in place in co-operative housing environments

The co-relation between key principles of co-op housing and the components of ageing in place may signify co-op housing as an optimal housing model to facilitate ageing in place. However, there is currently a gap in knowledge, with little literature on whether co-op housing has what is optimally required for older adults to age in place (McClatchey et al., 2025). Both CHF BC and the intern (an urban studies master’s student at Simon Fraser University) recognize this challenge/gap and would like to work towards better understanding it. The challenge questions posed are: how are older adults currently experiencing ageing in place in Metro Vancouver co-operative (co-ops) housing? During the ongoing Canadian housing crisis, how might co-ops best respond to the needs of members as they age? How might strategies differ when comparing older co-op buildings to the ones built more recently through the Community Land Trust?
Working together with Hey Neighbour Collective (HNC) and the Cooperative Housing Federation of BC, The intern would perform ‘walk-arounds’ of different (some older and some newer) co-op communities with older adult residents to better understand the perceptions of the social and built environments from the co-op residents perspective.

Faculty Supervisor:

Mei Lan Fang

Student:

Partner:

The Co-operative Housing Federation of BC (CHF BC)

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Construction and infrastructure

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: