The Latest News From Canada's Worker Co-op Sector
December 2019 Volume 11 Issue 11
In This Issue
  • Season's Greetings from CWCF!
  • Report from the Executive Director, by Hazel Corcoran
  • Rapport de la direction générale, par Hazel Corcoran
  • Worker Co-ops and the Social and Solidarity Economy
  • Just Us! Is a Coffee Roaster With a Mission
  • New Board Member Profile: Evan Proven, Sun Certified Builders Co-op
  • Save the Date: Webinar - Directors and Officers Liability, and Insurance Solutions
  • The Co-operative That Created Camino Chocolate: La Siembra
  • Woodshop Worker Co-op Seeks Community Support for New Space
  • The Common Share: Do Co-ops Have a Harder Time Obtaining Financing?
  • Atlantic Region: Making the Most of Meeting at the CWCF Annual Conference
  • La coopérative des travailleurs du journal Le Droit voit le jour
  • Research Underway: The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals & Co-ops: Calling for Participants
  • Update on the federal Investment Readiness Program
  • Expressing Solidarity With the Chilean People
  • Applications for Start.coop Accelerator Are Open
  • Sociocracy: The Worker Co-op Operating System
  • The Cheese Board Collective Inside and Out: Part 1
  • Update from the CICOPA Congress
  • CICOPA at the ICA & ILO joint event on the Future of Work in Geneva
  • CICOPA in New York for the Platform Cooperativism Conference 2019
Report from the Executive Director, by Hazel Corcoran; version française suit
New Look and Website / Connecting with Members / Vancouver Region WC Business Succession Project / WC Start-up Training Program - Parcours (Toronto) / Reconfirming 2020 Conference Dates, etc.!

CWCF is excited to be working with the Montreal-based, bilingual team of social justice-focused LOKI Design and Fair Trade Media on our new logo, visual identity and website . This is a critical, creative part of CWCF’s Strategic Plan and we are keen to share these elements with all of you in the new year. Given the challenge for our board and staff to reach consensus on the new look, the project launch has had some delays – but we believe you will find it was worth the wait! 
 
Read the full report here
Rapport de la direction générale, par Hazel Corcoran
Nouveau logo et site Web FCCT à venir en 2020 / L’engagement avec nos membres / Projet de relève d'entreprise de CTs de la région de Vancouver / Programme de formation de démarrage de CT - Parcours COOP (Toronto) / Confirmer les dates du Congrès d'automne 2020, et plus encore!

La FCCT est ravie de travailler sur notre nouveau logo, identité visuelle et site Web avec l'équipe bilingue basée à Montréal de LOKI Design et Fair Trade Media, les deux axés sur la justice sociale. Il s’agit d’un élément essentiel et créatif du plan stratégique de la FCCT et nous avons hâte de partager ces éléments avec vous toutes et tous. Compte tenu de la difficulté pour notre conseil d'administration et notre personnel de parvenir à un consensus sur le nouveau look, le lancement du projet a connu quelques retards - mais nous pensons que vous trouverez que cela valait la peine d'attendre!

Worker Co-ops and the Social and Solidarity Economy, by Kenzie Love
Strengthening ties to the social and solidarity economy (SSE) is a key part of CWCF’s strategic plan. But what exactly is the SSE, how do worker co-ops fit into it, and how can they best collaborate with it? And what about social enterprises? Here’s a start at answering these questions.

Just Us! Is a Coffee Roaster With A Mission, by Kenzie Love
Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op began in 1995 as the brainchild of a small group of friends (hence the name “Just Us!”). The founders had little in the way of business experience or resources, but they shared an interest in owning their own business and promoting fair trade, which was still a relatively novel idea at the time.

Board Member Profile: Evan Proven, by Kenzie Love
CWCF is pleased to welcome Evan Proven of Sun Certified Builders Co-op to its board, acclaiming him as the new director for the Prairies at the recent AGM.

Save the Date: Webinar - Directors and Officers Liability, and Insurance Solutions
CWCF will host a webinar on
1) Directors and Officers Liability and 2) Insurance products, including D&O insurance, available from The Co-operators for co-operatives. 

More information will follow, but please save the date:  January 15th, 2020 at noon Eastern Standard Time (9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT / Saskatchewan, and 1 pm AT), for one hour.  
The Co-operative That Created Camino Chocolate

by Adam Morgan
This interview with La Siembra Co-operative, the company behind the Camino brand, is an exclusive preview of Alternatives Journal's Invest in Change issue. Invest in Change will be out in the new year!

Woodshop Worker Co-op Seeks Community Support for New Space, by Woodshop
Since 2014, we have been a small  worker-owned  business offering reclaimed and sustainably-sourced  furniture, millwork, metalwork and DIY workshops for home and business.  Recently we were given the opportunity to move to a new space with better infrastructure and more tooling, and we've jumped in with both feet! We've received support from  Vancity Credit Union  and have invested our own capital in this project. With this campaign we aim to match this investment with an additional $35,000 to install a  comprehensive dust collection system  as well as  renovate our community engagement space .

The Common Share: Do Co-ops Have a Harder Time Obtaining Financing?
It's often said co-ops struggle to obtain financing, but recent Stats Canada data  show that, when it comes to debt financing in particular, existing co-ops are quite successful getting funds they request. This episode of Co-operatives First's podcast provides insight into these stats, the particular challenges and advantages co-ops might have in comparison to other types of business, and some areas where more research needs to be done.

Atlantic Region – Making the Most of Meeting at the CWCF Annual Conference, by Eric Tusz-King
The participants from the Atlantic region at the Annual Conference in Tatamagouche, NS made good use of their caucus time. They have developed a 3-part plan for promoting and supporting of worker co-ops in the region. On December 4 th , ten of those participants and a few more from provincial associations of co-ops met to move their ideas into action plans for early in 2020.

La coopérative des travailleurs du journal Le Droit voit le jour

par Julien Coderre, Le Droit
Après 106 ans d’existence, voilà qu’une importante page d’histoire vient de se tourner pour le journal Le Droit. Vendredi midi, les employés du quotidien fondé en mars 1913 ont officiellement formé, en assemblée, la coopérative de travailleurs qui prendra les rênes du journal.

Research Underway: The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals & Co-ops

Call for Working Group Participants
Researchers Daphne Rixon and Fiona Duguid are working with Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada (CMC) with the support of a Partnership Engagement Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. The project is designed to identify how the co-operative sector can utilize the  United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) . Are you interested in the SDGs? Are you curious how your co-operative is measuring up in terms of SDG impact?  Please join a working group to develop indicators made for co-operatives, by co-operatives  to measure the co-operative impact on the SDGs.

Update on the Investment Readiness Program
The  Investment Readiness Program  (IRP)  is a 2-year, $50 million federal pilot program designed to help advance Social Innovation and Social Finance in Canada by building on existing supports to help catalyze community-led solutions to persistent social and environmental challenges.

Expressing Solidarity With the Chilean People
As a response to the human rights situation in Chile and encouraged by TRASOL – the Chilean Federation of Worker Co-operatives – CWCF has written a letter going this week to the Chilean Embassy in Ottawa, the Canadian government, and to TRASOL. CWCF also encourages members and allies to write their own letters expressing solidarity with the Chilean people (photo by Carlos Figueroa).

Applications for Start.coop Accelerator Are Open, by Start.coop
Shared ownership is having a moment. From  potential co-op conversions  to transformative conversations about  the relationship between workers and tech  and  the promise of exit to community , momentum is building, and we’re right there in the thick of it. 

We’re excited to announce that we will be launching our second cohort of the Start.coop accelerator program this coming Spring, welcoming 6-8 new co-op entrepreneurs into the Start.coop family. 

Sociocracy: The Worker Co-op Operating System

by John McNamara
Over the last couple of years, I have had the incredible opportunity to work with  Sociocracy For All  (SoFA). This organization has worked diligently to bring the concepts of sociocracy out of the “best-kept secret” category and into the mainstream of organizational culture. I sit on the Co-op Circle for SoFA which meets about every four weeks to discuss the aspects of building sociocratic practices in the co-op community. Sociocracy offers a form of governance and management that operates on the fundamentals of inclusion, transparency, and consent of the governed.

The Cheese Board Collective Inside and Out: Part 1
Learn about the worker-owned collective known as the Cheese Board in this two part series, starting with how the worker-owners run the business behind the scenes!

Update from the CICOPA Congress
Last 13 October, in the framework of the  ICA Global Conference  in Kigali, CICOPA organized its Congress. For the occasion, members from all over the world elected their new President and the new board members for the renewed mandate 2019 – 2023, including CWCF's nominee, Isabel Faubert Mailloux, Executive Director of the Quebec Réseau COOP .

CICOPA at the ICA & ILO joint event on the Future of Work, in Geneva
In commemoration of the  ILO  Centenary, the ILO and the ICA had co-organized in Geneva a conference to reflect on the role of cooperatives in addressing key issues in the future of work and promoting decent work.

CICOPA in NY for the Platform Cooperativism Conference 2019
CICOPA took part in the  Platform Cooperativism Conference 2019  held at the New School in New York from the 7 th  to the 9 th  of November. "The State of Platform Co-operativism: Fire the Bosses, Democratize the Internet, and Own the Future"

The Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation (CWCF) is a national, bilingual grassroots membership organization of and for worker co-operatives, related types of co-operatives (multi-stakeholder co-ops and worker-shareholder co-ops), and organizations that support the growth and development of worker cooperatives. CWCF's e-newsletter is available free of charge to anyone with an e-mail address and an interest in worker co-operative developments in Canada.    
Please send any comments and suggestions to:  
Kenzie Love
Editor of CWCF Newsletter 
(403) 276-8250