November 21, 2023, Ottawa, ON – National Housing Day marks a significant occasion to shine a spotlight on the tireless efforts of housing partners nationwide in their pursuit of enhancing access to secure and affordable housing in Canada.

Amidst growing concerns of Ontarians leaving their hometowns due to the increasingly unaffordable housing market, we embark on an illuminating journey to investigate the pivotal role that housing cooperatives and affordable housing providers are playing in affecting positive change within the housing landscape. We did this by engaging in in-depth conversations with eminent leaders in the industry.

We invite you to join us as we unveil “Unpacking Ontario’s Housing Challenges - Conversations with Ontario Affordable Housing Experts” tomorrow at noon on our official YouTube channel. During this event, we are honoured to have the following distinguished guests:

• Tom Clement, Executive Director, Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto (CHFT)
• Marlene Coffey, CEO, Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA)
• Bill Sinclair, CEO, The Neighbourhood Group Community Services (TNGCS)
• Vivian Chih, National Key Account Manager, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)

Susan Henry, Director, Community Impact and Financial Inclusion expressed her excitement, stating, “It’s truly an honour to get insights from these remarkable experts in the affordable housing sector, regarding the current state and future of affordable housing in Canada.”  Fahima Karim, Account Manager, NFP & Affordable Housing added, “Alterna feels extremely fortunate to have worked so closely with many of our esteemed speakers in our ongoing efforts to support and uplift our communities.”

Join us in this insightful dialogue that promises to shed light on the path forward to affordable housing in Canada.

To learn more about Alterna's support of affordable housing, visit alterna.ca.

For more information contact:
Kim Moseley, Vice President, Product & Marcomm
Alterna Savings | Alterna Bank
Kim.Moseley@alterna.ca

Susan Henry, Director, Community Impact and Financial Inclusion
Alterna Savings
Susan.Henry@alterna.ca

About Our Speakers

Tom Clement, Executive Director, Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto (CHFT)

Tom Clement is the Executive Director of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto (CHFT).  He has worked at CHFT since 1981 and became the Executive Director in 1994. 

Tom has been involved in administrating the over 4,300 co-operative homes that are part of a land trust portfolio.

He was instrumental in Canada's first public housing conversion when Alexandra Park became the Atkinson Housing Co-operative in 1994. Atkinson Co-op provides homes for 400 families.

In 2004, under Tom's leadership, CHFT founded the CHFT Diversity Scholarship Program. The CHFT Charitable Fund has granted over 370 scholarships to co-opers pursuing post-secondary education in the Toronto area. Tom has been involved in fundraising $1.8 million to award and negotiating partnership agreements with colleges and universities to match funding.

Tom's heart has remained in co-op housing, where he remains a national leader. From 2017 to 2020, he was on the board of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada as well as having chaired the CHF Canada Governance Committee.  He's also served on CHF Canada's Education Committee, the Risk Underwriting Fund and the Federal Co-operative Stabilization Fund. Tom is currently a director of The Agency for Co-operative Housing.

Marlene Coffey, CEO, Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA)

Marlene Coffey is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA). Marlene's leadership at ONPHA has helped the organization redefine its focus on leading sector transformation through an economic development approach to housing.

With a background in strategic planning, Marlene has led economic development initiatives in municipalities across Ontario including Hamilton, Milton, and Waterloo, where she was vital in developing their technology and start-up sectors.

Now, with her tenure in housing, Marlene's leadership has attributed to: 1) modernizing legislation for the negotiation of funding and service agreements, 2) developing shared services and professional supports for the sector's transformation and, most recently, 3) shifting the sector into a systems approach that includes community housing as part of social infrastructure.

Marlene is a Registered Professional Planner with two related Master's degrees, specializing in municipal economic development and finance. She is also an industry expert on the Housing Supply Action Plan Implementation Team with the Government of Ontario in the larger goal to build 1.5 million new homes.

Bill Sinclair, CEO, The Neighbourhood Group

Bill Sinclair has worked continuously in the non-profit community service sector for 35 years and held positions of increasing responsibility. Bill has a BA, Arts ’85 and a MSW’87 from the University of Toronto. He continued his formal education earning a Certificate in Management from the Schulich School of Business and in 2017, Bill completed the Community Health Leadership Program at the Rotman School of Business. Bill Sinclair is currently the President and CEO of The Neighbourhood Group Community Services (TNGCS), a role he assumed in 2020.

TNGCS is a ground-breaking charity in Toronto bringing together six charities across Toronto to provide vital anti-poverty services city-wide and drive innovation in the non-profit sector.  

Bill is a specialist in multi-service organizations combining childcare, homecare, housing, employment services, newcomer services, urban health services, and more. He has led many coalitions and networks to improve neighbourhood services, including founding Local Immigration Partnerships, a network of homeless drop-ins, and joint initiatives for youth services. With a goal for grass-roots innovation, Bill is leading new work on peer employment to co-design and co-deliver services, and the Trustee Hub – providing trusteeship for over 60 resident initiatives in priority neighbourhoods that are tenant-led, youth-led, and women-led.

Vivian Chih, National Key Account Manager, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)

Vivian Chih is a National Key Account Manager with the Financial Institutions Team for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). In her current role, she works with clients to support the homeownership needs of Canadians.

Prior to this role, Vivian worked as an Affordable Housing Consultant in the CMHC Ontario Region for more than 11 years, building capacity with housing stakeholders, including the Province and municipalities to facilitate the development of housing and inclusive communities. During this time, Vivian helped develop the National Housing Strategy’s Federal Lands initiative and represented CMHC on the Surplus Federal Real Property for Homelessness Initiative’s National Tripartite Committee (SFRPHI).

Vivian holds an MBA from Concordia University and a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University.

About Alterna Savings
Alterna Savings and Credit Union Limited (Alterna) has been the good in banking™ for over 110 years. Alterna is made up of Alterna Savings and Credit Union Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Alterna Bank.

As the first full-service, member-owned cooperative financial institution outside Quebec, Alterna Savings shares its expertise with 217,000 members through a network of 46 branches across Ontario, as well as call centre and digital channels. Members and customers also benefit from an industry-leading online brokerage, investment management services, and have access to over 43,000 surcharge-free ATMs in North America with THE EXCHANGE Network in Canada and the Allpoint Network in the US.

Alterna Savings & Credit Union Limited operates as Alterna Savings. Alterna Savings is a credit union operating in Ontario. For information on deposit insurance, please ask for a brochure at the credit union or visit the FSRA’s website at www.fsrao.ca/.