In 1979, the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto got mortgage approval from CMHC to purchase the property and build on the site where Neilson Creek Housing Co-op is now situated. After going over the site plans and amending them, CHFT managed to achieve their objectives and by early 1981 members had started moving in on one of the cul de sacs. By September of 1981, a resident Board of Directors was elected and CHFT handed all the powers and duties of the Co-op to the residents.
The first five years saw a lot of changes in restructuring present and incorporating new committees. We were involved with the investigation of the contamination of the creek and took it to Scarborough Council to get some answers, which we finally did. Many rules and regulations were added and amended to suit the environment and are the fundamentals of what we have today. This certainly was a factor in solidifying stability to the Co-op.
The 1990’s saw some big changes to the Co-op. The first was a major revisal of the Co-operative Corporations Act. These changes were made to make housing co-operatives a distinct entity from landlord and tenants both in law and in practice and to ensure that these co-ops are run and administrated by the members.
The second was a major turnover in the Co-op due to the availability of the housing market as many members had purchased homes and moved out. By the new millenium, there were less than 20% of the original members residing in the Co-op.
Throughout all of this, the Co-op has survived and prosperred into the fine community it is today. We celebrated our 30th anniversary in 2011, are still actively handling issues both within the Co-op and in the immediate community surrounding us and will continue to do so for a very long time to come.