From October 13 to 19, Canada once again feels the spirit of Co-op Week! This year, the theme Think Co-operative was chosen to celebrate the contributions co-operatives and mutuals have made to communities, and how those contributions, through local jobs and local services, lead to global good.
Canadians have celebrated Co-op Week since 1981, marking the involvement of the many members who contribute, at home and abroad, by volunteering their time and efforts to make a difference.
Co-operatives are part of most aspects of the daily lives of Canadians. Babies can be born in healthcare co-ops, people can work in a co-op, live in a housing co-op, purchase essentials like food and clothing from retail co-ops, do banking, purchase insurance, or even arrange a funeral with co-ops.
Co-operatives also provide local employment opportunities, and a cheaper way of providing services. They can touch the most important areas of our lives.
And they can be found all across Canada. Co-op Week aims to promote the diversity of the co-op movement, with all of
its advances and all of its contributions to communities.
This week is the perfect time to come together and celebrate the vibrancy and strength of the co-operative and mutual sector.
When we speak of the co-operative, co-op system, co-op, or co-op formula, we talk about the same thing: citizens that unite to collectively acquire the economic power and the tools to develop their local economy and to respond to the needs of their community.
Canada’s more than 10,000 co-operatives and credit unions may offer a wide variety of services, but they all have one common element – they are owned by the people who use them. That means in addition to providing valuable services, any profits generated by these businesses remain within the community.
Individuals as well as communities benefit from this unique management model; the co-op system is the best example of economic democracy. Though collective ownership, the co-op system generates better wealth distribution among the members and allows each co-operator (member) to develop personally and socially.
The rules of the co-op system guarantee its members equality in the decision-making process and equity in the distribution of contributions and revenues. The enterprise itself promotes
education through the sharing of knowledge and information.
On the strength of its past and its expertise, the co-op system is operating in areas that affect every member of society.
The system is truly diverse, and offers a broad range of products and services in so many communities. The economic and social concerns driving co-ops are shared by the more than 10 million Canadians who benefit directly from these services, and by many others who benefit without even knowing it, stimulating even international economies. Co-ops have helped to build the country, its place in the global marketplace, and closer to home, the community in which we live.
All co-op members are proudly working to build the future of our country, and the world!
