Thoughts and success stories

Defining member engagement for a specific organization is often tricky. It can also be hard to measure. But defining member engagement for your organization and…

In this episode, we explore why we need governance. Kyle and Aasa from Co-operatives First talk to Paul Thompson, Research Officer at the University of…

What makes a co-op? In this episode, Kyle, Dan, and Aasa discuss what makes a co-op. They discuss the different definitions of co-ops, the seven…

Welcome to the The Common Share podcast! In this episode, we interview Kyle White, Education and Engagement Lead for Co-operatives First. He discusses the purpose…

“Trust is perhaps the single most important underlying element of running a financial cooperative.” Eric Dillon, CEO Conexus Credit Union Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, and…

The federal government has released its budget for fiscal year 2018, Equality and Growth: A Strong Middle Class. While many commentators, pundits, and partisans focus…

On a board of directors? At your next meeting, take a look around the table. Does everyone look and sound similar to you? If so,…

Marty Frost is an icon in the co-op sector. Through decades of business development experience, Frost has helped set up around 300 co-operatives, both in…

On November 22, National Housing Day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a national housing strategy for Canada. The strategy outlines a commitment of $40 billion…

Producer co-ops are a model we don’t hear discussed much anymore. Today, much of the awareness of co-operatives is fuelled (no pun intended) by consumer…

Co-ops and rural economies have a closely linked history. Here are a few things co-ops can teach you about rural life in western Canada.

Trillions of dollars in business assets are about to change hands in North American small business, and succession planning is the most overlooked part of a business plan. This is a problem, especially for rural communities.

And how community leaders are finding opportunity in these changes.

There is one resource in particular of which Saskatchewan has no shortage, and a Saskatoon-based co-operative is taking advantage.

Credit Unions are no longer allowed to use the verb “banking.” Here’s why we think this is an opportunity for credit unions.

While at BCEDA, we caught up with CEO and President Dale Wheeldon. Here’s what he had to say about rural economic development and the co-op business model.

Just because an organization is registered as a co-operative doesn’t mean it’s especially ‘co-opy.’

At 319 million people, Twitter has the 12th largest population on earth. Could the platform giant actually mutualize?  Here’s our thoughts.

Considering the co-operative sector’s proven strength in retail, distribution and agriculture, there should be a variety of opportunities to capitalize on by new start-ups and existing co-ops alike.

On Wednesday, April 5 the Government of Canada unanimously accepted Motion M-100 signalling support for Canada’s co-operative sector. Here’s what you need to know.

New Generation Co-operatives allow farmers and ranchers to invest in a downstream value add business that purchases their commodities at fair market value, keeps the investment in the community and increases the purchase value – potentially providing dividends on top of a guaranteed purchase.