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 … Planet Bean Finds Success With New Model
By Kenzie Love In the almost 20 years since it set up shop in Nelson, BC, the Kootenay Bakery Cafe’ Cooperative has developed a reputation for nourishing food and a welcoming environment. The Cafe’ has always emphasized customer service — with the understanding that what’s good for its customers is good for its employees too. … Kootenay Bakery Cafe’ Co-operative Has Found a Recipe for Success
By Kenzie Love Edmonton City Council took the historic step last month of adopting a “carbon budget”, which sets a cap on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions the city can emit — ever. Last June, meanwhile, Halifax city council unanimously approved a comprehensive climate action plan. For Sustainability Solutions Group (SSG), the worker co-op … SSG Helps Plan for a Fossil Fuel Free Future
By Kenzie Love Come As You Are (CAYA) opened in 1997 with a mission: to provide Toronto with an ethical, feminist, sex-positive sex shop. Inspired by San Francisco’s Good Vibrations, which at the time was a worker co-op, CAYA’s founders had all previously worked in the industry as sex educators, retailers, or as manufacturers of … Co-op Sex Shop Invites People to Come As They Are
By Kenzie Love When Tourne-Sol started out in 2005, it was blazing something of a trail. There were few co-operative farms in Canada at the time, and 15 years later they remain quite rare. But Dan Brisebois, one of the co-op’s five founding members, has no regrets about the route its members took. “When you … Tourne-Sol Reaps the Harvest of Co-operation
By Kenzie Love Much like the components of the bicycles they sell, the members of Winnipeg’s Natural Cycleworks all have defined jobs but play an equally important role. It’s an aspect of the worker co-op model that appeals to member Zach Allard, now in his sixth year with the co-op. “It does provide a really … Natural Cycleworks Succeeds With Shared Ownership, Divided Responsibilities
By Kenzie Love When a group of tech professionals in Toronto decided they wanted to band together in late 2018 to create Hypha, the worker co-op model seemed like a natural fit. It was such a natural fit, in fact, that no one can pinpoint the precise moment when they decided to go that route. … Hypha Worker Co-operative Seeks to Build Bridges
When The Allium was conceived in early 2019 in Calgary, it came into being as a worker co-op first and a restaurant second. Its founders knew they wanted to establish one of the latter, and their collective interests and experience led them to choose the former as the kind of business it would be. Less … The Allium Does Food Differently
By Kenzie Love Over more than 40 years, the Winnipeg store now called Organic Planet has had several different names but one common mission: the distribution of food that matters. This long journey began when a consumer co-op known as Harvest Collective opened in 1978, which ultimately declared bankruptcy in 1999 and closed its doors. … Organic Planet Offers Food With a Philosophy
By Kenzie Love From humble beginnings as a pilot project focused on expecting parents in Edmonton’s Chinese immigrant community, Multicultural Health Brokers Cooperative (MCHB) has grown to a worker co-operative of 100 workers serving members of all ages from 30 different ethnolinguistic communities. Yvonne Chiu, the co-op’s executive director, has been with MCHB for this … Multicultural Health Brokers Creates Health Through Community
