Housing co-op founder calls for more support from government

Editor’s note: This story was updated with the latest developments at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, July 25, 2025. 

Advocates have called for various levels of government to support more cooperative housing to help address the ongoing housing crisis.

But a proposed housing co-op in southeast New Brunswick is facing headwinds from Tantramar Town Council.

Eric Tusz-King, founder of the Freshwinds Eco-Village Housing Co-operative, spoke to the NB Media Co-op last month following a decision by Tantramar town council that poses a challenge for the project. 

Freshwinds is a not-for-profit, member-owned, housing co-op trying to build affordable housing in Tantramar. In 2023, Freshwinds bought a 21-acre property on which it plans to build 63 housing units.

The project hit a snag in April, when Tantramar Town Council rejected Freshwinds’ request to apply for funding under the provincial stream of the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund. 

That application would have asked for provincial and federal funding to cover about 80 per cent of water and sewer upgrades worth $2.4 million — with the municipal government eventually contributing about $400,000. 

But the town council rejected that proposition in a 7–1 vote, with some councillors expressing concern it could jeopardize a future application for major infrastructure funding to fix local sewage lagoons, as previously reported by CHMA and the Wark Times. 

Tusz-King believes this rejection sent a negative signal to other levels of government by suggesting that Freshwinds does not have support from the town. 

This could have a ripple effect, causing the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund to reject another pending application for support that Freshwinds had previously submitted. This shows how municipal decisions can ripple throughout a cooperative’s relationship with all levels of government. 

“We got a bad reputation because the town was seen to not be supporting the project,” he said.  “Provincial and federal governments said, ‘if the town is not behind it, then we can’t be.’”

Tusz-King said the issue was potentially “misinterpreted,” with some people misunderstanding the joint nature of Freshwinds bid, as the co-op was asking primarily for federal and provincial funds, not municipal funds.

He was quick to add that these bridges haven’t been burned. “These relationships are getting repaired,” he said, adding that there are other ways for the municipality to support Freshwinds, such as tax breaks. 

He suggested that municipal governments such as Tantramar had perhaps been burned by previous developers, making them hesitant to lend their support. He wants them to understand that cooperatives are fundamentally different from other kinds of businesses, because they will remain in the community.

“If a cooperative were sold, it must stay in the area,” he said.

The Town of Tantramar didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

Letter from NB Housing ‘gives us confidence’ 

More recently, Tusz-King said that a recent meeting with David Hickey, the Minister responsible for NB Housing, has given the project a boost. 

“We have met with the Minister of Housing Hickey and he has assured Freshwinds that we will receive a conditional letter of support from NB Housing,” he said in an email on Friday.

“This has given us the confidence to move forward on preparing the Class B estimate for submitting an application to the Cooperative Housing Development Fund.”

The $1.5-billion federal fund provides forgivable and low-interest repayable loans, aimed at housing cooperatives providing affordable housing. 

‘Bias towards corporate business’ 

Tusz-King has also called for more support for co-ops from the provincial government, saying that New Brunswick should adopt a stance similar to Quebec.

“The New Brunswick government has a bias towards corporate businesses,” he said in June. 

The New Brunswick government currently gives no direct funding to cooperatives, he said, although they can receive tax credits available to other small businesses under the Small Business Investor Tax Credit program.

The government of Canada has a $755 million dollar fund — titled the Social Finance Fund — which is investing $400 million over the next four years into intermediaries that are engaged in “social impact financing” which in turn funds businesses and cooperatives.

This social impact funding comes from various private investors and is distributed for social and environmental reasons. 

Three New Brunswick cooperatives, one of them being Freshwinds, are currently supported by social impact funding; the same number of co-ops are also receiving this kind of support in Nova Scotia.

The feds previously eliminated support for the co-ops under the government of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. “Harper cut all money to cooperatives,” Tulsz-King said. “It has never been restored.” 

Quebec has the most programs that specifically support cooperatives of any province, he said. One hundred and one co-ops are currently supported in some way. 

He also called for the revival of a provincial cooperative federation that can directly support cooperatives through shared knowledge and lobbying support. 

Two cooperative federations previously existed in New Brunswick, focused on anglophones and francophones, respectively. These cooperative federations were multifaceted, serving co-ops from all sectors in New Brunswick. 

Both co-op federations ultimately failed due to a “lack of provincial funding,” Tusz-King said.

The provincial government didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story. 

Where are cooperatives receiving funding?

Source: Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada

Lucas Reynolds is a student at Mount Allison University and a summer intern at the NB Media Co-op.