Co-op Week, celebrated this year from October 13 to 19, is truly a Canadian tradition. The values of co-operation and community development are part of our national identity, and our country has over 9,000 co-operatives operating in various sectors.
What’s more, 83 per cent of Canadians report that they prefer purchasing goods and services from co-ops over traditional businesses. Here’s what you should know about them.
They foster economic stability
Co-operatives tend to be much more stable than traditional companies. A 2011 report by the B.C.-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance found that the three-year survival rate for co-operatives in Alberta was 81 per cent, compared with 48 per cent for traditional enterprises.
Long-term survival allows co-ops to grow along with their communities and to adapt to the changing needs of their members.
They’re everywhere
Co-operatives come in many forms, largely because their structure is beneficial to a wide range of economic activities.
For example, agricultural co-ops of all kinds have enabled producers to band together and ensure their financial stability while providing quality products to their customers.
Credit unions, on the other hand, have been a staple of the Canadian financial landscape because their democratic organization allows them to put the needs of their members first.
They drive innovation
According to a 2017 report by Statistics Canada, 42 per cent of co-operative enterprises had developed some form of innovation in their field, compared with only 31 per cent of traditional businesses of comparable size.
This innovative mindset allows co-ops to improve their services and help their communities flourish.
f you’ve been thinking about launching a business, you may want to consider structuring it as a co-operative. Depending on your goals, it may be the best way to develop your project in the long term. Here are three reasons to start a co-op.
1. You hope to meet a particular need
Most co-ops are created with the aim of responding to the needs of their members. It may be to remedy a lack of accessibility to certain goods, to make services more affordable for the community or to help small producers achieve financial stability. Workers, consumers and producers alike can form co-operatives.
2. You want to support your community
Co-ops have the potential to energize local economies. This is mostly because, unlike traditional companies, their main goal is to allow communities to come together and improve their overall situation in a way that helps stabilize and improve the local economy as a whole. This is hugely different than merely trying to increase profits for a handful of investors.
3. You value long-term stability
Democratic decision-making plays a large role in allowing co-ops to survive longer than traditional companies. Each member contributes their own knowledge and expertise, allowing decisions to benefit from varied and complementary perspectives. This allows members to feel like they’re really part of the company and increases the likelihood of sound choices being made for the future of the co-op.
Co-operatives offer many advantages over traditional companies. Their collaborative nature allows them to make the most of their members’ experience and expertise. If you’re interested in learning more about co-ops, visit canada.coop.
