Board reports – Page 2 – Woodsworth Housing Co-operative

Protected: Board report, June 2026

Woodsworth Maintenance Update – June 14, 2026

Woodsworth Maintenance Update

The Board would like to give you a brief update on the planning stages of the major capital projects. Please make note that dates may change.

The penthouse windows and doors are still outstanding, awaiting materials from the U.S. Estimated start date is anywhere from the 18th to the 30th of June. We will keep you apprised of the situation.

The Tot Lot – A thorough, detailed report was submitted by the Tot Lot committee. It is still under discussion by the board

As many of you know, we have 3 major capital projects in the works. Two that came up as emergencies – the crack in the front of the building and the leakage in the maintenance room. The other is our planned capital project – the fire alarm system retrofit in the Mid-rise.

The Fire System: bids will be going out in June/July and a board decision on company to do the work in July. Site mobilization in September. Project duration to be confirmed by bidders

Maintenance Workshop: Board approved this work in June. We do not have a schedule yet.

Masonry repair front of building and PH floor wall: Board approved this work in May/June. We do not have a bids or a schedule yet.

Board of Directors, June 14, 2026

Woodsworth Board and Management correspondence – procedures

From the Board of Directors, October 2025
and from Management, The Weekly, November 2, 2025

Office and Board Correspondence –
– Management handles admin tasks
– How and when to contact the Board of Directors
Internal Escalations to the Board – special circumstances
Emergency Subsidy / Internal Subsidy
Forms – using forms to request services or report problems
Contractors – talk to Management not contractors
Behaviour

Office and Board Correspondence

Updating your email address with the co-op

It is a member’s responsibility to update the Office when you have new contact information (i.e. email address/phone number). You must explicitly notify the Office that you want to update your information e.g. saying “Update my email address on file to example@example.com” vs just emailing the Office a query from a new email address.

Woodsworth’s office staff handle administrative matters

Messages from members will normally receive a prompt response from Woodsworth’s Office Staff, who handle virtually all administrative matters with little or no input from the Board. Staff have the skills and resources to resolve most issues. Matters that may require a Board decision are rapidly brought to the Board’s attention, along with background material that can speed the process.

Please direct your questions and concerns to office staff by email, phone, or by visiting the office during open hours. Making an appointment for in-person visits is preferred and helps us serve you better.
Open office hours are Monday-Tuesday, and Thursday-Friday 10:00AM – 3:00PM.

Contacting the Board

Board meetings are held once a month. It’s at these meetings that board decisions are made by votes on motions. Individual board members cannot make decisions on their own.

The Board email address is to be used only for escalations from members where the Office could not adequately assist, and for correspondence from committees. The Board reads all submissions to the inbox and endeavours to respond quickly to business correspondence and official communications from co- op committees.

How to contact the Board
Please send an email to board@woodsworthcoop.ca or drop off your letter in the Board mailbox located on the second floor, next to the elevator.

Since the board only meets monthly, contacting the Board first can sometimes delay action. Please contact management first.

Response to individual co-op members is limited to cases where Board intervention seems necessary. The Board meets just once a month and typically intervenes only on matters of overall co-op policy, or in cases where it becomes convinced that all other channels have failed.

The cut off for correspondence to be covered in a board meeting is 9 days before the meeting date.

Internal Escalations to the Board – special circumstances

If you have an after-hours need, please call the on-call team.

If you have issues of an administrative nature (e.g. waiting lists, pest control, priority moves, housing charge, RGI or maintenance), please contact the Office. The Board does not need to be cc’d on these emails.

If you have an escalation (regarding the property manager or another issue for which no resolution has been reached) contact the Board, and specify that it is an escalation requiring action.

If you are having an issue with another member, contact the Conflict Mediation Committee.

If you have an idea — consider whether it could be addressed to a related committee. The list of Woodsworth Committees and their contact information is here on the Woodsworth website.

Emergency Subsidy

Members are reminded that Woodsworth offers emergency housing charge assistance for members experiencing difficulty paying their housing charge, if they are eligible. The emergency subsidy is 30% of their income and lasts for a maximum of 3 months.

Forms

If you would like to submit an accommodation request, please complete the relevant Accommodation for disabilities request forms on the Woodsworth website and submit it to the office.

If you would like to receive electronic communication from Woodsworth please fill out the Electronic communications agreement on the Woodsworth website and submit it to the office.

If you would like to submit a complaint to the co-op about a violation of the co-op’s Human Rights By-law please complete and submit the Human rights complaint form here on the Woodsworth website and submit it to the office.

If you would like to report an incident, complete the Incident report form and submit it to the office. In this case, an incident would be an accident or problem you would like the co-op to be aware of and/or take action on.

See a complete list of Woodsworth forms here on the Woodsworth website.

Contractors: Contacting / Approaching Contractors

Any concerns or questions regarding contractors on-site should be brought directly to the office. We ask members not to approach contractors directly, as this can be disruptive and potentially unsafe.

For your safety, please do not enter the fenced-off job-site related to the ongoing podium deck project. We are sending important updates to the membership regularly, and your cooperation helps ensure this project proceeds smoothly.

Behavior

We all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. In keeping with this principle, any harassment, bigotry, or threatening behaviour toward other members, volunteers or staff will not be tolerated. Be nice to each other. Be cooperative.

More from the Board of Directors about communication, reporting problems and about escalation to the Board.

Reprinted in the Weekly in January 2026.

AND:

Feedback from the Board: managing expectations and recommendations
(June 2025)

Tot lot and podium deck completion

December 12, 2025 – From the Board

Everything continues to go well. They will be finishing up a variety of things including the exit door floor in the breezeway, pointing, making sure the breezeway stones are flush, finishing with that back stairwell to the garage.

Everything should be finished up by next Thursday Dec. 18th. (Except possibly the railings).

There is a bit of a hold up with the railings. August is pushing for them to be here by end of next week but there is a chance they may not be here. They are still in the process of being made.

The front stairs cannot be used until the railings are on.

August will also move the two heavy items into place… the tree in the container by the wall of the staircase going down to the garage and the extra cement planter in the front of the co-op, to back by the landscape room.

From the Board, published in the Weekly, December 9, 2025

Good news: we’re expecting the Podium Deck project to be completed within the next week.

The main tasks remaining are pouring concrete in the Tot Lot, and installing the 42-inch-high fence. A railing will also be installed in the middle of the Breezeway front steps, as required by code.

At the same time, work is being completed on the Albert Franck gardens. The big drains are now unblocked. This week the contractors will dig out the soil around the drains, and add concrete splash blocks to disperse water away from the wall and ensure that it’s distributed effectively. The contractors will also dig out the tree stumps in the AF garden and the triangular bed in the walkway. A soil removal company will come this week to remove at least 1 foot of soil from the AF beds and also from the triangular bed.

The two garbage receptacles in the Breezeway will also be replaced, as they’re in pretty bad shape. New ones are being ordered. The two big flower containers at the bottom of the breezeway stairs will remain.

Midrise units with backyard patios – notice to members

Members in midrise units with backyard patios should have received a flyer last week, outlining the precautions needed to avoid damaging the new membrane. These include using planters and being careful not to cover up the drains, and, of course, not poking anything down into the patio surface. (If you haven’t got your flyer, contact the Office.)

A big thank you to Jill MacDonald who has had the foresight to help us think through the landscaping issues while this project was being carried out. What it means is that in the spring the gardens will be ready to go!! And thanks to all our members for your patience as we embarked on this monumental project.

Woodsworth Board of Directors

Tot lot fence decision and podium deck completion

From the Board of Directors, November 16, 2025

With time running out on the Podium Deck project, the Board has made a decision regarding the Tot Lot fence.

We received a large number of email submissions on this, split pretty evenly into the two obvious camps: a) those who were acutely aware of the security issues and wanted a total solution, and b) those who were much less concerned about security than accessibility and aesthetics.

The Board itself had no strong preference either way, and realized that there was no one solution that would satisfy everyone completely. So we’ve chosen a middle path that gives us flexibility to evolve over time.

For a start, we’re going with a 42-inch fence. It was felt that together with the 24- to 30-inch rise of the Tot Lot itself above ground level, this would provide a reasonable barrier to casual intrusions.

For now, no gate will be installed. The main reason for this is that any gate must be fully accessible, and therefore would need automatic actuation by fob, similar to the Lobby door. This would involve quite a bit of extra construction, and significant extra expense. So it makes sense to delay this measure for now. We can add a gate later if we can’t improve the security situation in other ways.

And there are quite a few other ways we can try.

Our 2024 Toronto Police CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) audit emphasized that the best way of discouraging intrusions is to make an area seem private and ‘lived in,’ through various simple changes to the environment. One option currently being investigated is lighting the Tot Lot in a way that will make it unattractive for illicit late-night activities.

Improvement ideas coming out of the Tot Lot committee will also be a big help. There are many ways we can make the Tot Lot a more useful gathering place, and the Police audit points out that frequent use by local residents is very effective in discouraging outsiders.

Finally, the Police audit recommends posting signs clearly establishing an area as private property. We have signs already, and these will be placed once Podium Deck construction is complete. We will continue to monitor security, and look at other safeguards as needed.

We thank all the members who submitted their thoughts on this project, and look forward to working with the Tot Lot committee to continue upgrading this important part of the co-op.

From the Board of Directors, December 7, 2025

Tot Lot Completion
Good news: we’re expecting the Podium Deck project to be completed within the next week.
The main tasks remaining are pouring concrete in the Tot Lot, and installing the 42-inch-high fence. A railing will also be installed in the middle of the Breezeway front steps, as required by code.