Thoughts and success stories

What started as a conversation about a lack of “cut and wrap” services on a ranch driveway in the Boundary region of BC is about…

Surviving a pandemic will be hard for most small businesses. But if you’re an artist-run start up with a revenue model based in events ……

Co-ops play a big role in keeping communities vibrant in Canada’s North. In the latest podcast episode, we spoke to Mary Nirlungayuk from Arctic Co-operatives…

Agriculture’s not an easy industry to break into. Start-up costs can be insurmountable; the cost of land alone puts farming out of reach for those…

Locally and independently owned grocery retailers are often forced to compete against major chains without the benefits of being a major chain themselves. Many of…

Links mentioned in this episode: Neighbour Lab Victoria community unveils ’emergency bench’ to help bring neighbours together The Thingery Sustaingineering  

People are resourceful in small-town Alberta. In Smoky Lake — population 960 — there had never been a daycare facility, and parents always had to…

The retail grocery business is hard. Large upfront capital costs for space and inventory. Small margins and stiff competition. The need for marketing, procurement, merchandising,…

In the construction sector there is plenty of room for inefficiency. Often one contractor will frame a building, another will wire it, someone else will…

The Mountain CoLab co-operative The nature of work is changing, and with it, the model of traditional office space. With the rise of the gig…

Maggie Bluewaters shares a story of healing and food security in rural Saskatchewan. Our thanks to Maggie and everyone at The Food Forest and Learning…

For newcomers, barriers to well-being can be bigger and more complex than for much of the Canadian-born population. Newcomers often experience isolation when they arrive…

In today’s world, there’s no getting around it: socially and economically, communities need reliable, high-capacity internet, no matter how small or remote they are. Internet…

You might not expect to find the country’s most connected community in a rural setting, but folks in Olds, Alberta play by their own rules….

It’s Valentine’s Day. For some folks, this means a great deal. Others (no judgement) let it pass without bothering to note its peculiar significance in…

For over 50 years, RedHat Co-operative has been supplying western Canada with fresh, greenhouse-grown vegetables. The name, RedHat, stems from the co-operative’s original shareholders’ greenhouses…

Co-operatives are, by definition, a group effort. But, like any new venture, co-ops need an entrepreneurial “champion” to push the vision forward. In Fraser Lake…

“We ended up deciding on the co-op model because we wanted to move money that either exists in our investment portfolios sitting on Wall Street…

Renewable energy sources have the potential to be a boon for remote, northern communities – that is, if these communities can get them.

Most of us take electricity for granted. But for remote northern communities without roads, built on tundra and far from neighbouring towns, procuring a stable source of power isn’t easy.

For rural and remote groups or communities looking to take economic development, wealth and employment creation into their own hands, co-ops are a good option. Here’s a few reasons why.