# Building cooperative

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Not to be confused with [building society](/source/Building_society) or [housing cooperative](/source/Housing_cooperative).

A **building co-operative** is a [co-operative housing](/source/Housing_cooperative) corporation where individuals or families work together to directly construct their own homes in a cooperative fashion.[1]

Members of this type of co-operative purchase [building materials](/source/Building_material) in bulk and co-operate with other members of the co-op during the construction phase of the co-operative. When the housing has been completed, the members usually [own](/source/Home_ownership) their homes directly. In some cases, roads, parkland and community facilities continue to be owned by the co-operative.

## History

Building co-ops was extremely popular in many parts of [Canada](/source/Canada) from the 1930s to the 1960s. Father [James (Jimmy) Tompkins](/source/Jimmy_Tompkins_(priest)) and Dr. [Moses Coady](/source/Moses_Coady) were key organizers in [Nova Scotia](/source/Nova_Scotia) of the first building co-operatives. Through active local study groups, they began research on co-operatives and developed a concept of how a building co-op could work.

In 1936, Father Tompkins helped found the first self-help building co-operative in North America near Glace Bay (Reserve Mines), Nova Scotia, Canada. A group of coal miners formed a [housing cooperative](/source/Housing_cooperative) with a loan of CAN $22,000. The housing loan was used to pay for building materials. Each miner's personal contribution consisted of his labor or "[sweat equity](/source/Sweat_equity)". The miners worked together to build eleven homes, which they moved into in 1938. These homes continue to be occupied today at [Tompkinsville](/source/Tompkinsville,_Nova_Scotia).

## References

1. ["Житлово-будівельний кооператив"](http://cyclop.com.ua/content/view/1076/58/1/16/) [Housing and construction cooperative] (in Ukrainian). *cyclop.com.ua*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160804123721/http://cyclop.com.ua/content/view/1076/58/1/16/) 4 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 June 2025.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Building cooperative](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_cooperative) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_cooperative?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.