About the Book    To read Under Construction: A History of Co-operative Housing in Canada is to appreciate anew the remarkable evolution of co-op housing in Canada; the small but determined lobby that more than forty years ago gave birth to a powerful national movement; and the Canadians of all backgrounds who were drawn to the good housing that co-ops had to offer and who have become, collectively, the movement´s voice.
   This is the story of that movement and all of its voices, then and now. It is a story of advancements and reversals, of triumphs and frustrations. But most of all it is a success story, built on the principles and perseverance of people who wouldn´t just take no for an answer in their pursuit of a place for housing co-ops in Canada´s social fabric.
   Co-op housing in this country is a true grassroots movement. Fundamentally democratic, from the smallest co-ops to our representative federations at the regional and national levels, the movement draws its strength from the commitment of housing co-op members. It is an extraordinary fact that the calls for more co-operative housing in Canada are heard loudest from housing co-op members, who seek nothing for themselves but rather the advantage for others of what they already enjoy. It is a testament to the admirable sense of civic engagement co-op housing engenders in those who reap its benefits.

About the Author Leslie Cole
Leslie Cole became a Bahá'í in Yukon in 1981 and lived in Carcross and Whitehorse for eight years. She first went to Canada's North for a summer job in Fort Resolution, Northwest Territories and later did her MA in Geography on cultural change on Baffin Island from the 1950s –1980s. Her work as a journalist took her to most Yukon communities as well as Inuvik, Iqaluit, and Yellowknife. She has lived and worked in the Yukon, Denmark, and Norway and travelled to many communities in the circumpolar North. Her first book Under Construction: The History of Cooperative Housing was published by Borealis Press in 2008.

Also by the Author Under One Tent: a history of Bahá'ís in Northern Canada (2026)