🙏 Thanks to all who have been following our journey and supporting us. We wouldn’t be here without you!

New and long-time community investors have come together to pay off the original vendor take-back mortgage on the land, and are looking forward to planning the next steps for affordable, sustainable housing in Owen Sound.

In Owen Sound's 2021 citizen satisfaction survey, housing was the number one issue facing the City.

The CEO of Grey Bruce Health Services (now Brightshores Health System), Gary Sims, told Owen Sound city council earlier this year “the biggest impediment to recruitment of staff is housing”.

Both individual and organizational investors have stepped up to contribute to the project, including the Canadian Union of Skilled Workers who have deep roots in the area:

“This low risk, high impact investment means we are contributing to the financially accessible workforce housing so desperately needed to drive our economy and improve our neighbour’s quality of life.  The members of the Canadian Union of Skilled Workers (CUSW) are excited to invest in Glassworks and to become a member.  So many of our families live, work and play in Owen Sound and in the surrounding region thanks to their jobs at Bruce Power, Hydro One and local contractors” said John Wabb, Chairperson, CUSW.

"One of the key learnings from Community Foundation Grey Bruce's recent Vital Focus on Housing report is that partnerships are key to finding solutions to the affordable housing crisis.  Glassworks Village proposes a cooperative model for attainable and sustainable housing, engaging government, nonprofit and private sectors, inspiring community collaboration and innovation." Stuart Reid, Executive Director, Community Foundation Grey Bruce

Marilyn Struthers of the Social Finance and Housing Group of the Institute of South Georgian Bay shared, “Glassworks has been doing so much important work.  We see models like this as a vital part of the infrastructure needed to support affordable living. Co-ops are a long-standing player in the work of housing affordability. That community members have stepped up financially to keep this particular dream alive, is a testament to the viability of local social impact investment, and the traditional "yes we can!"  approach to solution-finding in our rural communities".

“The Glassworks community should be proud. The Ontario Co-operative Association is excited to lend its support to help provide innovative housing and financing solutions. We look forward to exploring the massive housing impact potential of the Glassworks site.“, explained Peter Cameron, Co-operative Home Ownership Project Manager at the Ontario Co-operative Association.

Kristopher Stevens from Cohousing Options Canada shared, “Leadership starts at the local level with citizens, politicians, administrators, non-profits, service groups, faith-based organizations and the private sector, working together for the benefit of everyone in the community.  As a new Board Member, and long-time member and investor, I am excited about how we came together to secure the land and for our collective goal of building a model sustainable neighbourhood of 300 homes.”

“Like a great family recipe, when it comes to our current crisis in attainable housing it is clear that beyond the most basic ingredients – in the case of housing often boiled to down to  supply and demand – is the investment of vision, aspiration and care.   I am very fortunate to live in Owen Sound and am energized and excited at the chance to give back and invest in the future of my own community,” said Bob Sutton.

The Glassworks Co-operative Board is grateful to its members and investors for their amazing support and look forward to working with local leaders to bring viable and timely solutions to our housing crisis.  

To learn more or apply to join the Glassworks Co-op please visit www.glassworkscoop.com.  

Main points to note:

The members of Glassworks Development Co-operative are celebrating!

• In less then two months the membership has stepped up, surpassing its investment goal of $363,000 to secure our 46 acre property in Owen Sound

• We are now in a superior position to consider our options on how best to proceed

• Over the past 4 years we have received significant input from the community on what we could do

• The Board is assessing the best options for building a model sustainable neighbourhood of 300 homes and other secondary sustainable uses plotting a course of action forward

• Owen Sound, like the rest of Canada, is in a housing crisis

• Our community led and invested non-profit example of development will inspire other similar initiatives

• Thank you to all of our members, allies and supporters that stepped up in so many ways

• We are looking forward to working together with our members, partners and local leaders to show the rest of the province and country a better way to build our future

• If you’d like to join Glassworks Co-operative and invest in the future of Owen Sound please visit us at www.GlassworksCoop.com

1. Extra:

• Glassworks Development Co-operative has 105 members

• Local organizations that are also members such as the Canadian Union of Skilled Workers (CUSW) have more than 650 members in Grey Bruce whose families live, work (Bruce Power, Hydro One and local contractors) and play in the region

• Housing is the priority, the other uses are important too - it is about integrated design

• Key development considerations for whichever path is chosen are:

  • Sustainability, resiliency, community centered integrated design, multi-generational, aging in place, accessibility, workforce housing needs and of course financial accessibility

• The property was purchased for $475,000 and has been assessed at $1.1 million

• Glassworks has capped the number of investors and the investment total to ensure a healthy loan to value ratio of .73.

• We intend to have a future inclusive community bond offering to provide more people the opportunity to invest

• The majority of our members either already live in Grey Bruce or would like to and have strong ties with the region - that’s why they’re willing to invest their time and money

• All of our members plan to continue to be actively engaged in Glassworks Development Co-operative either through the housing initiative or secondary sustainability uses

• As things take shape, we the members of Glassworks, as well as anyone else in Owen Sound (or from farther afield) will have the opportunity to own or rent

Media contacts:
Kris Stevens
Glassworks Co-operative Board Member
Executive Director of Cohousing Options Canada Non-profit
kristopher@centreofacircle.com
(416) 303-1201

Kelsey Carriere
Glassworks Co-operative Director
kelseycarrieremail@gmail.com
(226) 923-0735