In cohousing, each household has a fully private home—but shares common spaces, events, and responsibility for the neighbourhood.
ABOUT COHOUSING
What Is Cohousing?
Cohousing is a model of living that blends independent homeownership with shared resources and community life. Originating in Denmark, it has spread across the globe as an antidote to isolation and disconnection.
Cohousing communities have been created in all kinds of neighbourhood contexts: urban, suburban and rural, and their designs reflect the constraints and opportunities of their context, along with the specific needs of their members. Some common elements:
- design for social connection (orienting buildings and uses to encourage interaction and informal encounters among members),
- great common facilities (with space to gather and host, and share other activities)
- design for human scale and human speed (promoting walkability and kid-friendly spaces)
- Often an orientation towards greater environmental awareness and sustainability
Ownership Model & Development Approach
Our community is being created using what we call a “cohousing-light” model. Tomas and Tamara purchased the land and have carried the project through the early development stages, taking on the financial risk, coordinating the professional team, navigating approvals, and overseeing site works required to get it off the ground. Along the way, interested community members have been involved in shaping the vision, offering input on design, future governance, and housing needs.
When equity members join the project, they contribute funds to get the common house built and provide final direction on home designs and community setup. Once homes are complete, each household purchases and owns their home and lot, along with a shared interest in the common property (the common house, pond, community driveway, etc).
The community will be self-managed and set up as a strata. A monthly strata fee will cover shared maintenance and any community activities the group chooses to support.
Development costs include compensation for the work involved and a modest developer return, with private lenders earning standard interest. We aim to be open and transparent about this role. When homes are sold and the strata is established, the development entity dissolves and we transition fully into community life together.
Our community aims to learn from the wealth of knowledge and examples of cohousing that have come before us, while also charting our own path of community living.
Community Life and Decision-Making
We envision a vibrant community life. Rolling Sunday brunches, late night sauna chats, movie nights, yoga and wellness skill-shares, impromptu heart-to-hearts, joint ski and bike maintenance, bulk buying, crafting and creating, jam sessions, coordinated kids care and carpooling. There are so many wonderful ways that we can enrich each others’ lives.
We also know that vibrant folks often have busy schedules. Nobody wants to be in endless meetings, or doing work that they don’t really care about. We aim to be serious about efficiency in our governance and administrative affairs, taking the best of what we’ve learned from other communities’ models, and iterating on them.
The objective of our governance and decision-making system is to facilitate inclusive and collaborative decisions around important topics that impact the community, and to ensure that everyone’s time is valued. There must be careful and continued attention placed on balancing these objectives.
This is more than a neighbourhood—it’s a place to root, grow, and thrive.
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Copyright 2026 Courtenay Cohousing
This is not an offering for sale. Any such offering may be made only with a disclosure statement. Prices and specifications are subject to change. E & O.E.