The Latest News From Canada's Worker Co-op Sector
April 2020 Volume 12 Issue 4
In This Issue

  • CWCF COVID-19 Emergency Relief: Supports to Worker Co-operatives
  • Announcements: New CWCF Logo and Website, Virtual Coffee Meet-ups, Arts and Culture Grant Project Completed, Update on Conference 2020
  • Co-ops and COVID-19: Seizing the Opportunity, by Kenzie Love
  • Staff Profile: Mateusz Salmassi, by Kenzie Love
  • Canada’s Co-operatives: Helping Communities During and After the Coronavirus, by Marcelo Vieta and Fiona Duguid
  • Bike Couriers in Toronto Risking Illness to Deliver "Junk Food to Rich People", by Alastair Sharp, National Observer - with SendIt Courier Co-op
  • Co-operation As an Antidote to Anxiety, by Colette Lebel
  • La coopération, un antidote à l’anxiété, par Colette Lebel
  • International Day of Co-operatives 2020
  • Message of Solidarity from CICOPA With Members Affected by Covid19
  • AGMs and Social Distancing, by Dan Matthews, Co-operatives First
  • Web-Cliniques en innovation et entrepreneuriat sociale
  • Nouvelles du Réseau COOP
  • Free Webinar: Financial Supports for Individuals and Co-operative Business Owners During COVID-19
  • Managing Finances and Cash During Crisis
  • Virtual Free Gathering Thursday April 23, Hosted by NYC Network of Worker Co-operatives
  • Resources from Round Sky Solutions
  • Legal Issues to Keep in Mind as We Navigate Uncharted Waters, by Iler Campbell
CWCF COVID-19 Emergency Relief: Supports to Worker Co-operatives
We have been monitoring the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our members closely, and it has become clear in recent weeks many worker co-operatives will need support to recover or continue their operations during and after the pandemic. Therefore we are announcing three support levers, for which CWCF already has the structure and resources in place, which will allow us to support worker co-ops in the short term.

CWCF Announcements
New CWCF Logo and Website : You may have noticed this month's newsletter has a different look. We're pleased to introduce CWCF's new logo, designed by a team led by Kevin Yuen Kit Lo and Dru Oja Jay . We're hard at work finalizing the details for our revamped website, which Dru has also overseen. We anticipate sharing it in the next few weeks!

Virtual Coffee Meetups : We're also launching a Virtual Coffee Break series, the 2nd and last Tuesday of each month, hosted by CWCF's Executive Director Hazel Corcoran. These will offer a safe space for worker owners and other members to gather, get to know each other, and share collective knowledge on issues specific to worker owners. Hazel will also share how members can engage re: the CWCF $100 million federal proposal to grow the Solidarity Economy /worker co-op sector, for general benefit. (Coming soon: Virtual WC Pub Nights, hosted by regional CWCF directors.)

Arts and Culture Grant Project Completed: We're thrilled to share the project created by Eyemole Co-operative, winner of CWCF's first Arts & Culture grant. Eyemole created an engaging story explaining worker co-ops to youth and others who may be unfamiliar with the concept. Check it out here.

Update on Conference 2020: Finally, we have decided to postpone our 2020 Conference, originally scheduled for November 2020, to 2021 in Vancouver, BC. The 2020 AGM will be held virtually; with the keynote and workshops to be held by webinar and/or regional gatherings. More to follow.
Co-ops and COVID-19: Seizing the Opportunity

By Kenzie Love
Life in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic is likely to be more difficult in some ways. But there may also be opportunities — ones the worker co-op sector must be ready to seize .

Staff Profile: Mateusz Salmassi

By Kenzie Love
Based in Calgary, Mateusz Salmassi has served as CWCF’s Social Media Assistant since 2019. He is responsible for creating and posting content for CWCF’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds, and has overseen a steady growth in followers for all of these, particularly Instagram.

Canada’s Co-operatives: Helping Communities During and After the Coronavirus

By Marcelo Vieta and Fiona Duguid
As the epidemiological impacts of COVID-19 grow exponentially, so do business closures, unemployment rates, poverty, housing and food insecurities.

It’s not surprising to  researchers of co-operatives and community economic development  that the outbreak of COVID-19 spurred Canada’s co-operative sector to immediately step up and respond to the needs of communities — in many cases, sooner and more concretely than  the federal, provincial and local governments  as well as large corporations.

Bike Couriers in Toronto Risking Illness to Deliver 'Junk Food to Rich People'

By Alastair Sharp, National Observer
Courier companies (including CWCF new member Send It Courier) that mostly service corporate and business customers have been particularly hard hit by the shutdown of office life, although they’ve also found a way to fill different customer needs.

Co-operation As an Antidote to Anxiety **Le français suit.**

By Colette Lebel
Are we really surprised by the amazing power of cooperative life? There’s no magic involved... In cooperation, no one is ever alone. So the answer is yes, cooperation can be an antidote for anxiety.


La coopération, un antidote à l’anxiété

par Colette Lebel

En coopération, on n’est jamais seul. Alors oui, assurément, la coopération peut être un antidote à l’anxiété.

International Day of Co-operatives 2020

This year, the theme of the International Day of Co-operatives 2020 is  CO-OPERATIVES FOR CLIMATE ACTION.  We are inviting the global cooperative community to continue pushing for actions that will address climate change. This critical situation is putting lives and livelihoods at risk, disrupting vital ecosystems for people and the planet.

Message of Solidarity
With Members Affected by COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed our lives. Those of us who are healthy should consider ourselves to be lucky. CICOPA, together with CECOP and CICOPA-Americas would like to send our love, support and solidarity to those who are less fortunate, including members of our family and friends, who are experiencing a difficult time because they have lost a loved one or have a loved one who is ill.

AGMs and Social Distancing

By Dan Matthews, Co-operatives First

It’s Annual General Meeting time again — but this year AGMs will be a bit more complicated than usual. Co-operatives First has a lot of great information about  how to plan your AGM , how to  get people to show up , and  why it’s important to attend . However this year, as we all practice safe social distancing, co-ops need to rethink how they conduct their annual meeting. This means taking the proceedings online.

Web-Cliniques en innovation et entrepreneuriat sociale
Avez-vous un projet qui sort des sentiers battus ?
Avez-vous des questions sans réponse ?
Savez-vous quoi faire et comment le faire pour développer votre idée, en projet et en entreprise sociale ?

Ces Cliniques sont pour vous…

Nouvelles du Réseau de la coopération du travail du Québec

Cette période de confinement sera sûrement l’occasion pour plusieurs de faire le point et de démarrer leur entreprise ou de développer une nouvelle offre de services.

Free Webinar: Financial Supports for Individuals and Co-operative Business Owners During COVID-19
Since the declaration of this state of emergency, there has been a lot of information circulating about government supports and who qualifies. We are therefore teaming up experts from Libro Credit Union and Meridian Credit Union to bring you a  free webinar , Tuesday April 28 from 1 - 2 p.m. ET, to help our Members navigate all of this available information, for both your personal and/or business needs.

Managing Finances and Cash During Crisis

This webinar was originally recorded on March 25, 2020. This webinar provides advice and resources to help small and mid-sized cooperatives navigate the financial challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Virtual Free Gathering Thursday April 23, Hosted by NYC Network of Worker Co-operatives
In times like these staying connected to our communities--sharing stories and support--becomes even more important than ever. We have been offering these gatherings on a seasonal basis to create a safe space for worker-owners to gather, get to know each other, and share collective knowledge on issues specific to worker-owners. We invite you to join us, maybe we can even have dinner "together" through our screens, and help us rebuild and strengthen our incredible community from a place of mutual care and respect. Let's get to know each other better, share our stories, find out what we can learn from each other, and what we might be able to do to support each other in this time.

Resources from Round Sky Solutions
The community has been reaching out about our resources that will serve them during these uncertain times. Our team processes  must be human and engaging and agile.  We must be able to tap into  all aspects of the work .

Here are a few resources to support you and your teams as you navigate what's needed.

Legal Issues to Keep in Mind As We Navigate Uncharted Waters

By Iler Campbell

In the last few days, we have been asked a variety of questions that, frankly, are new to us. We know that you are struggling with them too. This article attempts to highlight some of the issues that you may already have faced or may be facing tomorrow.

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, or news about your co-op, to:  

Kenzie Love
Editor of CWCF Newsletter 
(403) 276-8250 
CWCF | 104 402 30 Ave NE, Calgary, AB T2E 2E3 | 403-276-8250 |