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

  • Season's Greetings
  • Covid-19 Pandemic Offers Chance for a Brighter Future, by Kenzie Love
  • Planet Bean Finds Success With New Model, by Kenzie Love
  • Co-operators Community Funds: Financing for Co-ops
  • Other News from CWCF
  • What's New on CWCF's Social Media
  • Your Input is Requested - On the Funding Needs of Co-ops
  • Sackville's Powerhouse Co-op: A Company for Employees Who Don't Suit 9 to 5
  • Canada Looks to Social Enterprises, Including Co-operatives, to Build a Better Future
  • New Report on Creative-Sector Co-ops
  • All for One - Response of Worker-owned Cooperatives to Non-standard Employment
  • Japan Passes Its First Worker Co-operative Bill Since 1978
Covid-19 Pandemic Offers Chance for a Brighter Future

By Kenzie Love
The Covid-19 pandemic has obviously made 2020 a challenging year on many fronts. But amidst the ongoing crisis, there is also a sense of opportunity, and the realization that the pandemic may have given us a rare chance to create a brighter future. While recognizing the enormous toll Covid has taken, now can also be a time to appreciate encouraging developments that happened over the past year — and plan for a recovery that leads somewhere not just different, but better.
Planet Bean Finds Success With New Model

By Kenzie Love
When Andrew Loveland started working for Planet Bean in Guelph, Ontario, three years ago, he didn’t know much about worker co-ops. But he had a passion for coffee and an interest in ensuring it was Fairtrade Certified. If those were the things that got him to join Planet Bean, however, it was the worker co-op model that convinced him to stay.
Co-operators Community Funds: Financing for Co-ops
As Canada experiences a second COVID-19 wave, small and medium-sized co-operatives are continuing to adapt their operations in order to thrive. To support ongoing innovation, a total of $1 million in loan capital has been made available through the Co-operators Community Funds – Co-op Impact Program.
Other News from CWCF
Introductory Training: What Is a Worker Co-op?
January 15, 2021 at 12:00 noon ET (9 am PT/ 10 am MT/ 11 am CT / 1 pm AT / 1:30 NT)
Presented by Hazel Corcoran

This free introductory training in the cooperative enterprise covers the 4 main types of cooperatives and more specifically covers all the aspects affecting the functioning of a cooperative managed by workers. This training is for entrepreneurs, potential new members of cooperatives, and the curious, and is primarily for those who may have interest in the Parcours training program. Register here.

CWCF Job Board

CWCF is pleased to have recently launched a job opportunities page on our website, open for listing any postings that may be of interest to our members. Please send submissions to Communications and Executive Assistant Kenzie Love at admin@canadianworker.coop.
What's New on CWCF's Social Media
Looking for a more resilient and socially conscious economic model? You’ll find it in a coop — and you'll find this visual summary of co-ops by the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board in New York on our Facebook page. Check it out and if you're not already following us on Instagram and Facebook, be sure to do so now for lots more great content!
Your Input is Requested - On the Funding Needs of Co-ops
Researchers at the University of Waterloo are studying: (1) the degree to which the lending needs (e.g. lines of credit, term loan, mortgage, debt-like equity) of co-operatives are currently met by the product offerings of credit unions and banks, (2) the unique ways that purpose-built lenders (e.g. Working World, Start.Coop, Canadian Co-operative Investment Fund) are designing products to support co-operatives, and (3) the feasibility of credit unions implementing new lending products to meet the needs of co-operatives. They request your participation in a short online survey to learn your views about lending options currently available to co-operatives and options for improvement. Kindly complete the survey by January 8, 2021.
Sackville's Powerhouse Co-op: A Company for Employees Who Don't Suit 9 to 5
No matter the weather, you'll find Peter Irwin at the corner of Main and Queen Streets in Sackville, stop sign in hand, helping kids to cross the street.
He got the job after participating in an employment program at Open Sky Co-operative, a group whose aim is to help adults who have difficulty with independent living skills and finding work.
Canada Looks to Social Enterprises, Including Co-operatives, to Build a Better Future
What strategies can we use to build an economy that puts people and planet first? Both the US and Canada face a business succession crisis that has been accelerated by COVID-19. This article by the Fifty by Fifty project of the Democracy Collaborative is a US-based view of some of the research and other activity being carried out in Canada on business successions to social enterprises, including co-operatives.
New Report on Creative-Sector Co-ops
Sharing Like We Mean It: Working Co-operatively in the Cultural and Tech Sectors, a hybrid co-op primer and research report, has just been published by a team of Canadian and UK researchers. Based on a survey of more than 100 co-ops in Canada, the UK, and the US, as well as interviews with worker-owners. Sharing Like We Mean It offers a snapshot of the co-op landscape in creative industries, explores what co-operative work can look like in practice, and profiles several worker co-ops. You can find the report here.
All for One - Response of Worker-owned Cooperatives to Non-standard Employment
“All for One - Response of worker-owned cooperatives to non-standard employment”, a new report produced by CECOP sets out to show the contributions made by cooperatives to the issues related to non-standard employment, such as precariousness, low income, insufficient social security coverage and workers’ isolation.
Japan Passes Its First Worker Co-operative Bill Since 1978
On December 4, 2020, a Worker Cooperative Bill was passed by the House of Councilors (Diet) in Japan. This bill passage passed through the advocacy of the Japan Workers’ Co-operative Union (JWCU). The JWCU currently represents worker members from sectors such as elder care, services for children and parents, care and support for people with disabilities, among many others, representing more than 10,000 worker members and 5,000 non-member workers. This bill is a big step forward for the Japanese worker co-op movement. Japan previously had no single cooperative law, but instead every sector has its own, which been a challenge for the formation of new cooperatives.

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 |