Become a Member of

As a registered charity and non-profit society, the Peretz Centre is governed by dues-paying members. Our bylaws state that membership is (with a few exceptions) for life, but you must pay membership dues every year in order to be a member in good standing. If you do not pay your dues annually, you are still a member but no longer in good standing, meaning you lose some membership benefits like voting rights in General Meetings and board elections.

Your membership dues are financial contributions to the Peretz Centre’s annual operations, helping to fund our work, subsidize participation for our essential community programs (including children and youth programs), and sustain a home for progressive Jewish community in Vancouver.

Membership rates are offered in a few different categories. Members may register up to 4 adults in the same family and include children under 18 in any of the categories below. Anyone who identifies as a family and shares resources can register together.

Registration for children under 18 is free! We encourage members with children to register them in order to help us plan for children's programming, including members-only programs.

2025-26 Membership Rates:

In setting membership rates, the Board of Directors aimed to:

• Support Peretz programs and events while ensuring that membership is affordable for anyone who wants to be a part of our community

• Recognize different family configurations and keep costs down for single parents

• Encourage members with partners and/or children to register all individuals in their family, which helps us plan for programs and grow our community

The base amount of $180 for an individual adult (18+), or $25 for a self-identified low-income individual, is lower than most synagogues or societies like ours because we are able to use rental revenue from our building to keep membership costs down for those who can’t afford to pay more.

Rather than introduce tiers for members who are able to contribute more financially, we encourage those who can afford it to make a charitable donation in addition to renewing membership. This way, the entire amount of the donation is eligible for a charitable tax receipt.

Payments are no longer eligible for charitable tax receipts as of September 1, 2025. For the 2025-26 membership year, the Board of Directors voted to change our membership model to provide monetary advantages (or membership benefits that have monetary value, like discounts) in order to recognize membership engagement and reduce barriers to participation.

In other words, this new model allows members who frequently attend events or participate in programs to benefit from lower overall costs as a result of paying their membership dues.

Because your membership dues will now directly save you money, payments are no longer considered donations. That’s part of the reason that we kept membership dues fairly low, so members who are able to contribute financially at a higher rate can do so with a charitable donation and receive a tax receipt for 100% of that voluntary contribution.

For the 2025-26 membership year, we are introducing exclusive, members-only monetary advantages, including special rates and promotions on program registration, event tickets, and building rentals.

Starting November 30, 2025, members will receive new benefits:

• 10% off program registration (excluding members-only programs)

• 10% off event ticket prices (excluding events with free/in-kind/by donation registration options like Fraytik tsu Nakht)

• 15% of rental rates

• Additional promotions (like promo codes or early registration) offered only to members

Please note: Starting in 2026, some programs (like Pnei Mitzvah and the Vancouver Jewish Folk Choir) may be restricted to members-only, as they were in previous years.

Since Peretz membership has traditionally conferred only non-monetary advantages (like voting rights), payment of dues was considered a charitable donation. This is true for everyone who paid dues between September 1, 2024 and August 31, 2025; that’s why we issued charitable tax receipts for amounts paid (over $10).

As a result, we are phasing in monetary advantages to ensure that we comply with Canada Revenue Agency Regulations for charitable contributions. The main reason to phase in these new benefits is that we open registration and ticket sales for programs and events during the changeover of the membership year (September and October are some of the busiest months!). Members who registered for programs or bought event tickets before the new membership year started on September 1st (or before they renewed their membership) cannot receive monetary advantages, and it wouldn’t be fair to give discounts to people who signed up later.

To make the transition simpler, we decided that discounts will only be introduced for events and programs that start on or after November 30, 2025.

Registration for programs and events starting after November 30, 2025 will have a “members-only” registration or ticket option. Please select this option to get the members discount.

We may also send out special discount codes to members via email – keep an eye out and make sure you’re subscribed to our mailing list!

Children under the age of 18 are free to register for Peretz membership! We encourage members with children to register them in order to help us plan for children's programming, including members-only programs.

Only children who are registered as members are eligible for members-only programs and discounts.

To register one or more children in your family, please add their names and ages to your membership registration form.