Joint Project Rallies the Region Behind Affordable Housing
BCNPHA Consulting is working with the Columbia Basin Trust and community partners to help develop a new study to identify and resolve problems associated with affordable housing in the Lower Columbia region. Read the full article here. To view the latest REOIs from BCNPHA consulting, click here.

Shared Purpose Statement
BCNPHA and BC Housing have been working together closely for the past two years to enhance relationships between the provincial agency and housing providers. Through this process a Shared Purpose Statement Between BC Housing and Non-Profit Housing Providers was developed that outlines the key characteristics of what contributes to a successful and constructive relationship. The document has been endorsed by BC Housing’s executive team and BCNPHA’s board of directors. View more information on the Shared Purposes Statement here.

Stable Housing for Seniors: Preventing Evictions
This booklet, produced by Seniors Services Society, is a resource for building managers who house older adults. This booklet was developed after surveying building managers to see what were the most common reasons for evictions of senior tenants. It will provide suggestions and resources to assist you in handling each of the top nine issues identified. The purpose of this booklet is to encourage building managers to deal with issues that may lead to eviction in a proactive way so that eviction may be avoided.

Harmonized Sales Tax (HST)
The harmonized sales tax (HST) is now in effect in British Columbia. The HST is applied on most purchases of taxable supplies of goods and services in British Columbia at a rate of 12%, consisting of the 5% federal portion and an 7% provincial portion. Businesses in British Columbia that were registered for the GST are now required to collect and report the HST according to their established GST filing frequency. Please visit the CRA HST web site often for the latest information and updates.

HST PowerPoint
Victoria Cool Aid has prepared a PowerPoint presentation to help educate non-profit housing staff about HST. The presentation is applicable to Housing and Service Providers who are registered charities.

Frequently Asked Questions On the Impacts of Funding Contraints Through BC Housing
The BC Non-Profit Housing Association established a meeting with BC Housing to create dialogue around issues and questions that are commonly raised by non-profit housing providers given the economic crisis within which we find ourselves. We hope the responses listed in the Frequently Asked Questions Document that were recorded at our November 2009 meeting will assist the non-profit housing sector and BC Housing to operate more effectively together. Please note that these questions emanate from specific concerns, and the references are intended as guidelines.

Memorandum: Residential Tenancy Concerns of the Non-Profit Housing Sector in British Columbia, September 17, 2009.
In September, BCNPHA had a meeting with the Residential Tenancy Branch and raised the following issues in regard to process:

1. Timelines;
2. Late filings;
3. Teleconference;
4. Cost of review; and
5. Jurisdiction over Assisted Living.

Principle concerns that we raised with them in regard to content were:

1. A lack of understanding of the context of non-profit housing; and
2. Monetary awards against non-profit housing providers.

Read the full memorandum that was presented to the RTB.

Government Non Profit Initiative (GNPI)
BCNPHA Executive Director Karen Stone represents the housing sector on the Government Non-Profit Initiative. In spite of the obvious focus on the fallout of the impact of the economy, the Government Non Profit Initiative (GNPI) has continued to make significant strides over the past quarter of 2009. Part of the work over the past few months has been focused on strengthening its relationship through these challenging economic times. In collaboration with the LMP and the Federation of Community Social Services, the GNPI has developed an HR Issues Paper that summarizes the key issues and challenges in BC's nonprofit sector. The Issues Paper will be instrumental in guiding the priorities and focus of the GNPI HR Advisory Committee and the LMP.  In addition, the GNPI Story, which documents the history of the Initiative, and the Commitment for Collaboration Agreement, which formalizes the sector relationship, are now available on the GNPI website.

The Alberta Secretariat for Action on Homelessness has created A Plan for Alberta: Ending Homelessness in 10 years, which articulates a new approach. The Plan is based on the goal of ending homelessness in Alberta by 2019.

Raising the Roof: Youth Homelessness in Canada, The Road to Solutions. In 2006, after extensive strategic planning and community consultations, Raising the Roof launched a national initiative – Youthworks - to help solve youth homelessness. We believe that the greatest opportunity to prevent long-term chronic homelessness is to address the issue when people are young. Based on three years of research and consultation across Canada, we have authored Youth Homelessness in Canada: The Road to Solutions – a significant research report that describes the experiences of 689 street-involved youth in three Canadian cities - Calgary, Toronto and St. John’s. The project findings, along with invaluable feedback on those findings from service providers, researchers, policy makers and many other stakeholders, have enabled Raising the Roof to develop a snapshot of youth homelessness in Canada today.

In-house Library

BCNPHA members can borrow recommended books and publications from our In-house Library. Contact the BCNPHA office for more information.

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