Category: Applying for membership & housing

Woodsworth teens between the ages of 16 and 19

Young people between the ages of 16 and 19 who live in Woodsworth are encouraged to apply for membership.

Membership gives them the right to live here, to vote at general members’ meetings on budgets and housing charges, and to run for most elections. (Only 18 year olds and older can be on the Board.) And if they wish, as members, they may apply for their own unit after a required waiting period of two years. Any period of time before Board approval as a member is not included in the two years.

If they do not become members, they will automatically become long-term guests (LTGs). This is different from the rules for those who moved in after age 16, but the impact is the same. Long-term guests are not members and have no membership rights. If their family moves out, they must leave too. LTGs cannot inherit a unit alone without other members living in the unit.

However anyone who has grown up in Woodsworth can apply for membership at age 16. There is a special membership process for these teens. The Turning 16 process for membership is a little less formal. They must attend an information session, show proof that Woodsworth is their principal residence, and be approved by the Board of Directors. They do not have to have a formal interview, no credit check or income verification is required, nor do they need a long-term guest agreement. However they must qualify as children of members and live in Woodsworth.

Only those who are between the ages of sixteen and nineteen may use the “Turning Sixteen” application process. Watch for an announcement in the Weekly. You can also email the Membership Committee to ask about the next annual information session.
woodsworthmembership@gmail.com

The only way to receive a membership application form is to follow the procedures and attend an information session. The application must be co-signed by the other members in your unit. Once approved for membership, the new member shares all rights and responsibilities for the unit with the existing member(s).

Have you already turned  nineteen and live in Woodsworth?
If you lived here prior to your sixteenth birthday, you can apply in the regular way but don’t need a long-term guest agreement.

If you moved into Woodsworth after age 16, you too can apply for membership, but you’ll need board approval as a long-term guest and have a signed long-term guest agreement.

Woodsworth households: makeup and impact on status

Who is part of a Woodsworth household?

In the co-op’s by-laws, household means:

  • any members living in the unit
  • children of the members who are under sixteen (16) and live in the unit
  • children of the members who have turned sixteen (16) and continue to live in the unit, and
  • long-term guests approved by the board of directors and have signed a long-term guest agreement for that unit.

The Ontario Family Law Act determines whether a child is considered the member’s child for the purposes of housing in Woodsworth.

Members have been approved by the Board of Directors as members and have signed an Occupancy Agreement for the unit.

The co-op gives members these rights:

  • live in their housing unit
  • use their parking space if any
  • use the co-op’s common facilities, and
  • be involved in the governance of the co-op

However, co-op by-laws limit members’ rights.

All members in a unit share equal rights and responsibilities with no priority for any member in the household.

Normally, income from all those in a household counts towards subsidy calculations. Talk to Management if this applies to you.

Who is not part of a household:

Only persons mentioned above are part of a member’s household. Others can stay in a member’s unit but only as casual guests.

They can also be sub-occupants (sub-lessees) and only if permitted by the by-laws and according to the Occupancy Bylaw.

Rights of occupants of a unit who are not members:

Long-term guests are not members but have co-op status. They have been approved by the Board of Directors as long-term guests when the members in their household have requested it and have signed a long-term guest agreement.

Long-term guests have

  • no right to occupy the unit independent of the members
  • no right to occupy any other unit in the co-op
  • no right to a place on the co-op’s internal waiting list.

However, long-term guests may apply for membership with the agreement of the co-op members in their household.

What this means for unit selection – occupancy standards:

“Occupancy standards” means the minimum number of persons required to qualify for each of the co-op’s unit sizes. The  standards restrict the maximum unit size that a Woodsworth member can apply to move into or relocate to.

  • There must be at least one member in a unit.
  • All who have Woodsworth status including members, children, and long-term guests count towards the household size for  occupancy standards.
  • Guests without long-term guest status do not count towards household size for occupancy standards. Neither do visitors or sub-lessees.

Woodsworth’s occupancy standards (Occupancy Bylaw):

  • one-bedroom – a minimum of 1 person
  • two-bedroom-  a minimum of 2 persons, except a single person may occupy a 2 bedroom unit in the mid-rise including Wilton Street
  • three-bedroom – a minimum of 3 persons
  • four-bedroom – a minimum of 4 persons.

The co-op bylaws don’t specify maximum household size, but say it is determined by the City of Toronto Municipal Code, Property Standards, Occupancy Standards.
(See Occupancy Bylaw Article 9.3).

Non-member occupants can become members:

Long-term guests and young people age 16 or over who have not become members are all non-member occupants. While they have status with the co-op and count for household size, they do not have member rights.

The minimum age for becoming a member is sixteen (16).There is a slightly relaxed membership process for those between the ages of 16 and 19. (Turning 16s).

In all cases, applying for membership starts with attendance at an information session held by the Membership Committee.

Returning members: about previous members coming home to Woodsworth

Woodsworth has long had bylaws that allowed previous members to request to return to Woodsworth. Usually, some change in the former member’s circumstances prompted the move out – such as job change or family responsibilities.

The Membership Bylaw has the full details in Article 2.3.5. Returning members applying as internal applicants.

Summary of the bylaw:

Returning members can apply using the internal process by contacting the co-op and attending an internal information session.

The candidate must not have  left owing money to Woodsworth, nor were evicted, nor left after a notice to appear, nor in situations of domestic violence.

They must have resided in the co-op as members for at least two (2) years. Any time as long-term guest does not count.

They must attend any information session, fill in an application, and be interviewed by the Membership Committee. Management will do a credit check, a landlord check and income verification. Board will consider their application and make the decision.

After approval by the Board, the returning member must request a unit through the internal relocation process. There is no waiting period. The date that the co-operative receives their completed  Request for Internal Relocation form is their record date for the purposes of the waiting list.

If the previous member has others in their household who do not qualify as returning members, the new member must apply for long-term guest status for them.  This applies to anyone aged 16 and over. Only previous members may apply for membership through this process.

Former resident non-members such as former long-term guests can only apply as an external applicant when the external waiting list is open.

To make things easier:

Find documentation that you lived in Woodsworth, such as your Occupancy Agreement, correspondence about move-out, other proof that you lived in Woodsworth as a member for two years or more. The co-op will require proof that you lived here.

About moving in Woodsworth:

Woodsworth has a long external and internal waiting list. Our external waiting list is closed at this point. A successful applicant for membership will have a long wait.

Woodsworth has also made some changes to how units are allocated.

See Membership Bylaw, Article 4. Allocating units by waiting lists. One big change is that the co-op alternates between internal and external waiting lists when filling units.

See also the details in Article 5. Internal waiting list for unit allocation which discusses skipping if the unit does not meet your particular criteria. And unit size depends on occupancy standards. This is in the Membership Bylaw as well as the Occupancy Bylaw, Article 9.3.