By Hazel Corcoran
- Conference 2025
- Upcoming webinars
- Co-op education bursaries
- Membership renewal process
- Federal election submission
- Montreal co-op mixer
I am pleased to announce that this year’s Conference, taking place November 18-20 in Edmonton, will have the theme: Worker Co-ops Build a Better World: Democracy, Diversity, and Justice. We are currently in the process of identifying speakers and topics for workshops, and will be sharing more details in the coming months. Watch our Conference 2025 page for updates, and sign up to be notified when registration opens in September.
In the meantime, CWCF has a variety of other initiatives underway. Here are some of the highlights:
We are in the middle of the spring iteration of our Worker Co-op 101 webinar series, which provides an overview of the basics of worker co-ops and information on worker co-op governance and finances. These webinars were designed specifically for our members and are free of charge to attend. I highly recommend them for anyone new to the worker co-op sector, as well as those interested in a refresher on these topics.
For those looking to delve a little deeper, we are also offering Worker Co-op Finance 201, a two-part webinar presented by experienced co-op developer Russ Christianson. As Russ will explain, understanding your co-op’s financial systems and reports are the key to building your co-op’s financial strategies and resilience. Come ready to strengthen your co-op by learning how to analyze your financial statements to make better business decisions.
In partnership with Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada, we are also offering Co-op Advocacy 101, a webinar for individuals who are new to government relations and want to see how they can be involved in supporting their co-ops and other worthy causes, through advocacy and engagement.
As a further means of fulfilling the fifth co-operative principle of providing education, training and information, CWCF recently awarded two bursaries for co-operative education to Rosa Poirier-McKiggan and Shivaughn Perry, both members of Halifax’s Glitter Bean Cafe. We congratulate the recipients on this achievement and look forward to their continued work to strengthen Canada’s worker co-op movement.
One of the sources of income CWCF relies on for our work is membership dues, which we are currently collecting for our 2024-25 fiscal year. We thank those who have already renewed their membership, and have some additional information to provide about the dues process in this newsletter for anyone who’d like to understand it more clearly.
In a time of substantial economic uncertainty, CWCF remains committed to strengthening communities and economies by addressing the challenging issue of business succession and transfer. We recognize that many retiring business owners struggle to find suitable buyers, leading to potential business closures. With the current economic headwinds, this issue is likely to be exacerbated. As a solution, CWCF promotes worker co-ops to the Government of Canada as a sustainable model for ensuring the longevity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). CWCF has submitted this proposal to the platforms of the major federal parties.
As always, CWCF’s Board of Directors is hard at work supporting the Federation, work that sometimes takes place behind the scenes but is no less valuable for it. If you are in the Montreal area, I hope you’ll join CWCF Board and staff for a mixer at BMP Co-op taking place May 5 at 5:30 pm, co-hosted by the Réseau COOP. We’ve found these events are a great opportunity to connect between our Conferences.