By Kenzie Love A group of fellow immigrant professionals started the Expertise Hub Cooperative in 2024, inspired by a problem they’d encountered in their home of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador that is also common across Canada. “We kept seeing the same pattern happening again and again,” says Roxana Fazli. “Newcomers come here with advanced … Expertise Hub Helps Its Members Put Their Experience to Use
By Kenzie Love Chorus Frog Organic Gardens Cooperative formed in October 2024, the result of a conversion initiated by the farm’s founder, Daria Zovi. A native of Italy, Zovi was familiar with the worker co-op model from her country of origin, and decided that being a sole proprietor no longer appealed to her. “We already … Chorus Frog Organic Gardens Cooperative Takes a Collaborative Approach to Its Work
By Kenzie Love In 2020, a group of facilitators and mediators, located in Vancouver, Toronto and Nova Scotia but sharing common interests and methodologies in their work, began meeting online weekly amidst the pandemic. Organizational clients were coming to them, at a loss for how to deal with the relationship fallout from internal conflicts around … Conflict Engagement Worker Co-op Lives Its Values through the Model
By Kenzie Love When he settled in BC’s Lower Mainland as an immigrant from Nigeria, John Atoyebi knew he wanted to get back into farming. A farmer in his country of origin, as well as a lawyer, Atoyebi had the experience and the desire to resume his trade, but he needed farmland, a relatively scarce … African Canadian Agricultural Producers Cooperative Helps Diaspora Plant New Roots
By Kenzie Love Even as a sole proprietor, Matteo Zammit never wanted to feel like a boss. After starting out on his own, the Toronto bike mechanic had recruited others to join him when his business expanded, but maintained a relatively flat organizational structure. So when his two coworkers suggested transitioning to a worker co-op, … Toronto Mobile Bike Repair Co-op Is a Model for the Wider World
By Kenzie Love Aster Group Environmental Services Co–op was formed in Sackville, New Brunswick in 2013 with a mandate to donate 10 percent of its profits to an environmental charity. In the absence of an existing charity suited to this purpose, however, the Aster Foundation was created in 2017, charged with making annual grants to … The Aster Foundation Provides Valuable Support to New Brunswick’s Environmental Movement
By Kenzie Love Stocksy was founded as a multi-stakeholder platform co-operative in Victoria in 2013 with the goal of putting power back in the hands of contributing artists in the stock photo industry. The founders, veterans of this industry who wanted to create a new space by using the co-op model, began with 220 contributing … Co-op Stands Out In Stock Photo Industry
By Kenzie Love Ablaze Services began in 2019 in New Westminster, BC, the brainchild of two women who’d initially come together through the Feminist Campaign School, an organization designed to support candidates for municipal office. The founders subsequently began to take on more project-based work, and with the addition of a third member to their … Co-op Sets Conventional Thinking Ablaze
By Kenzie Love Lichen Community Systems was founded in 2024 by four people dedicated to growing the practice of community-led design. Building on the principle of “nothing about us without us”, community-led design goes beyond consultation and co-creation. It supports technologies and systems that are designed by, accessible to, and ownable by communities. The Co-op’s … Lichen Celebrates Community-Led Design
By Kenzie Love Pansy Club started in Calgary in 2021, inspired by the legacy of previous grassroots queer parties. From modest beginnings, it has since grown to become an important part of the city’s queer culture, with the aim of eventually becoming a queer cafe and social space actually owned by the queer community. Pansy … Pansy Club Helps Queer Community Blossom