How a long-term guest becomes a member:
Members can propose their long-term guest for membership in Woodsworth. There is no waiting period after becoming a long-term guest before they start the application process.
Applicants must be at least sixteen years old to become a member.
There is no requirement for long-term guests to become members.
Members should be aware that after the applicant becomes a member, they share the rights and responsibilities for the unit. They also gain the right to live in a unit in Woodsworth, to use the common facilities of Woodsworth, and to be involved in the governance of Woodsworth, including voting at members’ meetings.
Do you qualify for the Turning Sixteen process?
Those who live with parents or guardians in Woodsworth between the ages of 16 and 19 can apply for membership using the Turning 16 process.
Those who missed the Turning Sixteen window of ages 16-19 but lived at Woodsworth before they were sixteen years old can apply as long-term guests, but they will not need a signed long-term guest agreement. The regular process is followed apart from that.
The membership process for long-term guests:
The Membership Committee holds an internal information session annually. Watch the Weekly for an announcement. This session is a compulsory part of the process to becoming a member.
In order to apply for membership,
– there must be a long-term guest agreement (LTG agreement) properly signed and witnessed in the Management files and
– Woodsworth must be the long-term guest’s principal residence. The applicant must show two pieces of proof of their address to attend the session.
If these two requirements are not in place, the person cannot attend the required information session.
At the information session, the long-term guests will receive an application form which must be completed and returned to Management within three months. All members of the household must sign the application form since they are agreeing to share rights to the unit.
Once the completed application form is received, Management will do a credit check on applicants and income verification.
Two members of the Membership Committee will interview the applicant and the Committee will make a recommendation on membership to the Board of Directors.
At a Board meeting, the Directors will make a motion to approve membership, request more information as needed, or deny membership.
Management will notify the applicant and members of the Board decision. The members can appeal adverse decisions to the Board.
After approval as a member, sign the Occupancy Agreement!
Once approved, the new member must sign the household’s Occupancy Agreement. This completes the process of becoming a member. Signing the Occupancy Agreement is necessary for all members – the Turning 16s, the long-term guests, returning members (former members), external members. See Management to do this because a staff member must witness your signatures. Keep a copy of the agreement. It is an important document since it gives you rights.
The new member shares equal rights and responsibilities for the unit with the existing members, with no priority for any member in the household and the new member is eligible to participate in democratic decision-making by voting at members’ meetings or joining or being elected to the Board or committees.
Special rules:
A resident who has become a member by living with existing member(s) must wait two (2) years from the date of becoming a member to take sole responsibility for that unit or to apply to relocate independently of that member.
They cannot join the internal waiting list until the required waiting period of two years has elapsed. Any period of time before Board approval as a member is not included in the two years. However, they may be eligible to move with the rest of the household.
There are two exceptions: Those on the waiting list prior to approval of Bylaw 84 on Sept 26, 2023 must wait 1 year only (based on the old bylaw). See also: Occupancy Bylaw, Article 10.4 Death of a member.
For information on membership and the process, contact the Membership Committee.
Bylaws:
The Occupancy Bylaw covers the rules about long-term guests. The Membership Bylaw covers the rules about long-term guests becoming members.
The Membership Bylaw covers becoming a member as a long-term guest and membership for sixteen to nineteen year olds (Turning Sixteens). This is a less formal process geared to teens. The bylaw also covers unit allocation and waiting lists.
Periodically, the co-op will invite people to apply as external members. That process is in the Membership Bylaw as well.
Woodsworth’s confidentiality rules are in the Organizational Bylaw.
Who is responsible for what?
The Board is responsible for approving of long-term guests and approving membership.
The Membership Committee is responsible for holding information sessions, interviewing and making recommendations to the Board about applicants. The committee does not deal with getting long-term guest status. Email address: woodsworthmembership@gmail.com
Management oversees applications for the long-term guest process, including receiving requests and getting long-term guest agreements signed, tasks related to membership such as credit checks, tracking Board decisions and approval about status (long-term guest and member) and for occupancy agreements.
Management is also responsible for unit allocations, based on the Membership Bylaw.
If you want information on becoming a long-term guest, see How guests get long-term guest (LTG) status