Claire Dreyfuss shares her journey into the world of co-operative housing

How did you connect with the Hey Neighbour Collective?

I first connected with Hey Neighbour Collective (HNC) when I was working at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. I later reconnected with Michelle (HNC’s Project Director) when I came to SFU for my Master’s in Urban Studies. After the HNC Symposium in 2025, we chatted about HNC potentially supporting a MITACS internship. Fortuitously, HNC was able to connect me with The Co-operative Housing Federation of BC (CHF BC), which was perfect because they were in the process of exploring a partnership with an emerging HNC partner. CHF BC was interested in my research around how co-operative (co-op) housing in Metro Vancouver supports aging in place.

I’m fascinated by housing. I’m also interested in the different elements that come together in housing that we can observe by studying it: the lived experiences and perspectives within it.  My research uses two legacy co-ops as case studies – CHF BC was able to support me in the participant recruitment process. Ultimately, I will be creating a report of my findings for them as part of my MITACS fellowship (which will be in addition to my thesis).

How did you become interested in co-op housing specifically?

When I first thought about what my thesis could be, it was essentially comparing collectivism (towards community wellbeing) versus individualism (personal success, which is more of what we see in North America). I wanted to know how we (in North America) turned away from collectivist mindsets (community support, mutual support, etc.), and how that has become a detriment to society (specifically our social housing system). However, this was far too large for one master’s thesis! After looking into different sorts of housing, I dug deeper into the co-op housing model and its collectivist beginning!

I have always been interested in alternative housing models and how they could help alleviate the burden of our housing system. I know some people who live in co-ops, and it has always seemed like an affordable, community-oriented housing option. When I became interested in the idea of “aging in place”, I immediately thought that co-ops may be a fascinating example to explore. However, I could barely find research regarding aging in place in a co-op setting. This gap in research, and the need for safe and affordable housing, especially in our aging society, brought me to my thesis question: “how does co-operative housing in Metro Vancouver support aging in place?”

In a housing crisis, with a rapidly aging population, we continue to measure the success of housing by the number of units built. But, people’s lived experience should also be taken into consideration to better design and support housing that meets the evolving needs of everyone. I hope that my research is a little morsel of the puzzle that helps push the dial in affordable housing policy.

Where did your curiosity about aging in place stem from?

When Dr. Mei Fang became my supervisor, her background in gerontology made me wonder how I could mix my interests in housing and gerontology. After a lot of research and discussion, I thought it would be worthwhile to look at the intersections of housing and health. Two ways of observing this intersection emerged, one in the form of cooperative housing and the other in the concept of aging in place. The more research I did, the more I found that the voices and perspectives of older adults are often missing from policy discussions around housing, aging, and health.

I keep thinking, “What will this all look like when I’m older? What are the things I’ll have to think about as I age?” Right now, I live in Vancouver, and my family lives in Toronto. But I’d like for us to be closer. My dad’s parents passed away last year, and he’s from abroad, which meant he and his sisters had to travel every few months to check on them while their health was declining. 

This was eye-opening. My dad’s experience made me wonder what it really means to age in place and how we can set people up to do it best. Not just older adults, though, what about people in their mid-40s, thinking long-term? 

Admittedly, it can be scary to think long-term. For example, in 25 years, where will you or I be? This thought led me, in a roundabout way, to co-op housing. In the research I have already done (participant interviews), I have often heard that co-op housing adds intergenerational diversity, a sense of belonging, support, affordability, a strong community and much more.

Tell us more about where you grew up

I grew up in The Annex, one of the first neighbourhoods to pop up outside Toronto, post-industrial revolution. It’s close to the university and very dense. It was a very community-focused neighbourhood. 

When my younger brother and I were in primary school, our parents and neighbours opened up their backyards and connected them. We spent a lot of time voyaging between these open yard spaces to play with other kids in the neighbourhood, all of whom were different ages. We’d share babysitters, do our homework together, and have neighbourhood potlucks. My best friend (who I’m still friends with, since we were three!) lived a few houses down. 

Although I have never lived in a co-op, the community element that comes with that housing type was very much present in my neighbourhood. I feel so fortunate to have had that growing up. I didn’t notice that it was not necessarily common until I went to university and realized other people didn’t have that experience. Maybe that’s another reason why I find co-ops interesting: I’ve experienced some of the values they embody, in both the built and social environments of my upbringing.

What are you up to outside of your master’s project?

Outside of my thesis, I’m working on a co-researcher project called COALESCE, where student researchers work with older adult researchers to understand and work through climate mitigation strategies and solutions. During phase one (last summer), everyone conducted a literature review, then came together to discuss and share. In our small groups, we were paired with one or two other older adults. 

There was one person in particular in my group with whom I really connected. He came to the research from a dementia-centred mindset, while I came in thinking about housing design mitigation strategies. Though we do not have the same lived experience, we share some parallels. I have experienced Alzheimer’s more than once in my family and had previously worked in a behavioural science lab working with dementia patients. His perspective really got me thinking about aging and climate change from a different standpoint. He was really thankful for the relationship we built through the research, and it made me realize that we have no idea how we’ll impact someone else’s life. 

It’s often little things, like taking a few extra minutes to have a conversation with someone, that make them feel connected and seen. Taking that extra time is so important, particularly for older adults, as, statistically, they experience more social isolation and loneliness.

What’s your hope for the outcome of your research?

I want to understand whether the co-op housing model is ideal (when designed and managed well) for aging in place, and if so, to make a case for building more of it. With the affordability crisis, the security of tenure in co-ops is huge. Currently, more than 80% of our older adult population wants to age in place, but, depending on their housing situation, aging in place is not always possible. In my research, I have discovered how older, legacy co-ops have almost become naturally occurring retirement communities. While this is not necessarily a bad thing,  older adults often require different complex supports. Building or retrofitting older co-op housing to have 1-2 bedroom units for older adults while simultaneously including larger units available for families would facilitate intergenerational living, and  support aging in place.\ catalyze the transfer of knowledge to the next generation of “co-opers”. In one of the co-ops I’m studying, a person has lived there for 40+ years!

What occupies your time when you’re not researching?

If you met me, I would bore your ear off talking about housing and co-operatives. It is a passion and currently all-consuming! However, when I want to reset, I always bake and love doing it! It’s a release for me (like running, which I also enjoy) that I get a lot of joy from. I’ve been baking in the kitchen with my mum since I was a kid. I love baking cakes for friends’ birthdays! One of my favourite creations is a cake for autumn, a Guinness-spiced cake with poached pears and candied hazelnuts.