The past five years have certainly seen many challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic, rising prices on consumer products, significant changes in our weather patterns and natural disasters. However, we still seem to be succeeding and moving ahead with our lives. Is COVID finally over – I would suggest as long as we keep practicing good health habits and being mindful of our surroundings, this terrible disease will be controlled. We can hope something else doesn’t come along in the future, or at least we will be aware and prepared.
It was proven that the entire Housing Industry (deemed an Essential Service) rose to the occasion and adapted to the many challenges during COVID. We succeeded in continuing to provide essential services to our residents.
Hopefully, we will continue to move forward and to learn from our experiences. If another crisis does come, we will be far more prepared.
When asked to write a new message, some thoughts entered my mind about what to communicate, and the idea that won the internal debate was to answer a question I get asked many times by people in the industry.
What is the Institute of Housing Management (IHM), and what do they do?
IHM was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1976, and the sole mandate then (and still is to this day) was to provide education to those in the housing sector. The only change since incorporation is that the condominium sector has developed its programs, so we concentrate on rental housing (private market, social housing and co-ops).
An accreditation program was developed (recognized as the standard in the rental housing industry). The Ontario program has five core courses: Property and Building Administration, Human Relations, Property and Building Maintenance, Strategic & Financial Planning, and Tenancy Law. The remainder of Canada has four core courses (the same as above without Tenancy Law).
IHM has started a new accreditation program with a joint agreement with CHF Canada to develop a program for those in the co-op sector. The Co-operative Housing Management Accreditation (CHMA) program was launched in 2024. We are converting our current manuals to reflect content for co-ops. The subjects are the same as the IHM accreditation program but with four core courses (Tenancy Law is not included).
The second most asked question to me is: How are your courses delivered? IHM provides education through several avenues:
IHM has a contract with Association Concepts to handle the day-to-day administration, financial statements, and associated requirements. It also administers the entire education program from its offices in Markham. We also have an Education Director who handles the colleges and their needs, develops new programs, and does all the administrative work related to those courses.
The remainder of the requirements are handled by the Board of Directors, committees, and members who volunteer their time to IHM.
I hope this answers your questions about what IHM is and what we do. We are always looking for volunteers - if you are interested in helping us with the requirements of IHM, contact us at info@ihmcanada.net or give us a call at 416-493-7382.
Jimmy Mellor, FIHM
IHM President
