What is CCOC Membership?

CCOC members have been an important part of the organization since it began in 1974. Being a member allows you to participate in any meeting of the membership and vote during member meetings, including on resolutions and on electing the Board of Directors. CCOC community members and tenants are encouraged to become a member and have a say in how CCOC runs.

In 2024, CCOC updated our bylaws (read more here) and the new Bylaw came into effect on July 31, 2024. We updated our bylaws both because we hadn’t done an update in decades and we needed to make updates to be compliant with legislation for non profits. As part of the bylaw changes, we made some changes to the CCOC membership model.

What has changed and why?

What was really important to the board and members in this process was that CCOC stick to our values, including open decision making.  CCOC has always invited community members and tenants to opt into membership. To keep membership very open, we did away with membership fees several years ago.

Reducing risk

We wanted to keep our membership open to our stakeholders, but at the same time, to mitigate some of the risks that came with having such a wide open (literally anyone in the world could become a member at any time) membership model.  We reduced risks by introducing basic eligibility requirements, limiting the application and renewal time frame, and developing a member code of conduct. In practice, these changes will not significantly change our membership base. We know most of our members over the years already met these eligibility criteria, but these criteria address some of the gaps in the previous model.

Residential requirement

Under the new membership model, CCOC membership is limited to residents of Ottawa and the surrounding counties and communities. We are rooted in Centretown and want to ensure that our members are connected to Ottawa and the place where we operate. Lifetime Members are exempt from the residential requirement.  We give Lifetime Membership to folks who have made significant contributions to the corporation and we want to keep these folks involved as long as they want to be!

Code of Conduct

In the new Bylaw, we introduced a member code of conduct and a clear process for the Board to remove a member if this is breached. Making sincere efforts to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion is central to the Corporation’s core mission. We need to have protocol for when a member or director is failing to operate in that spirit. While this isn’t something we expect to run into often, it is important that we have a tool for keeping our members accountable and ensuring that we have ways to protect members.

Greater transparency

While we introduced mechanisms to remove a member, or for the Board to deny an applicant, all applicants will be informed of the reason why they were denied and have the opportunity to appeal the Board’s decision. This process is also outlined in the Bylaw. This ensures that while the Board has a mechanism to protect the organization, it is a transparent process, with the option to appeal if the Board’s decision was unwarranted.

Keeping Membership accessible

Membership remains free. While not outlined in the Bylaw, we also will continue to provide financial supports for those requiring transportation or child care support to attend meetings.

Why the limited timeline?

Having a limited application and renewal period allows time to process the applications and present them to the Board – but also time for someone, if denied, to appeal and have that decision reviewed far enough in advance of the AGM that if the decision were to be overturned, they could still participate in the AGM.  We hope the limited timeline and renewals each year will encourage members to keep their information up to date, and allow us to better track members over the year, without major fluctuations in membership.

How do I become a member?

Apply here between December 1 to January 15. You will hear back from us in early February with the Board decision.

Once you are a member, attend member meetings, join a CCOC committee, and have a say in your housing!