A Look Back at 2019
2019 was a busy time for the small but mighty staff team at OCA! We focused a lot of time and effort to make significant strides in our government relations work. Most recently, the Province committed to making the required changes to co-operative legislation - something we've been advocating for, for fifteen years! We continued to help develop new and support existing co-operatives through our advisory services. We made improvements to systems that have simplified and streamlined processes for our members, as well as increased efficiency internally. We continued to spread the word about co-operatives through the Ontario media, while keeping the sector informed. And, we had another successful year educating adults on co-operative governance, as well as youth on the co-operative model and principles.
Read on to learn some of the highlights from the past year in each of our key strategic areas…
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GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
- The Provincial Government completed its consultations with the co-operative sector on the Co-operative Corporations Act. Over 80 co-ops provided a submission to the government!
- We contacted all Ontario co-operatives that have submitted Offering Statements with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) to support our recommendation to not moving to the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and the negative impact it would have on a co-operative's ability to raise capital.
- We announced that the list of active co-operatives was launched on the Service Ontario website.
- The Ministry of Finance confirmed that the Provincial Government will not proceed with moving co-operative Offering Statements to the OSC, but transition the responsibility to the Finance Services Regulatory Authority’s (FSRA) articles.
- While the changes we advocated for in the January consultation didn’t make it into the 2019 Ontario Budget, the government committed to consider the feedback from co-operatives received through the consultation process, and work with our sector to propose amendments to the legislation.
- We hosted our annual spring Co-operative Queen's Park Reception. Over 100 co-operators attended as well as 32 MPPs and government staff, to celebrate the amazing contributions of Ontario’s co-operatives.
- The Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner joined the Co-operative Caucus, officially making it the first All-Party Co-operative Caucus in the province!
- FSRA replaced FSCO to oversee the capital raising requirements for co-operative corporations in Ontario effective June 8, 2019.
- The Provincial Government's Fall Economic Statement announced their commitment to modernize co-operative legislation! The improvements will eliminate the requirement to do 50% of business with members to allow co-operatives to compete and innovate on a level playing field with all businesses in Ontario. The updates to audit rules will reduce administrative burdens on community-owned co-operatives and allow their income to fund increased services.
- Our Executive Director Erin Morgan addressed the Standing Committee on Finance and thanked the Provincial Government for their commitment to modernize co-operative legislation, as detailed in Bill 138.
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CO-OPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT
- We applied for and received a Libro Prosperity grant for $20,278 to establish a “Co-operative Business Succession Incubator.” The initiative will provide training support and consulting to retiring owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to convert their businesses to employee or community-owned co-operatives.
- We successfully helped transition a local company into a worker co-operative! Arise Architects Co-operative has become the first worker co-op architectural practice in Ontario.
- We answered 220 inquiries through our 911 and 411 co-operative development advisory services.
- We assisted 8 of the fifteen new co-operatives that incorporated in Ontario.
- We partnered with Dr. Simon Berge at the University of Winnipeg for a SSHRC Partnership Engagement Grant application entitled “Business Succession Planning: A co-operative approach.” If successful, the goal is to develop an integrated educational strategy for SME business owners and employees that will assist in creating succession plans to ensure the ongoing operations of their businesses thus preserving jobs and vital services.
- We submitted an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant to set up a co-op business succession incubator in Guelph.
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MEMBER RELATIONS
- We implemented a new online member portal that allows our members to login and manage their account. The new system also enables members to register for events online, complete a sponsorship form, and process their membership dues.
- We launched our brand new Sponsorship Package to highlight which programs and initiatives require support beyond what our members’ dues cover. The new online module streamlines the sponsorship process into one cohesive package.
- We held our Annual General Meeting at Springfield Golf & Country Club during Co-op Week. Sixty members attended and elected our new Board of Directors, and approved a proposed change to our Bylaws. They participated in a Government Relations update and discussion prior to joining us for a networking lunch.
- We recognized and celebrated three leaders of the co-operative community with a Co-operative Spirit Award – Kerr Smith of Gay Lea Foods Co-operative, Kelly Storie of La Siembra Co-operative and FirstOntario Credit Union!
- We had a 78% engagement rate of members who attended a meeting or event that we hosted or partnered on throughout the year.
- We welcomed 9 new organizations to the membership!
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COMMUNICATIONS
- We sent out ten media releases to Ontario news media and various trade publications, to raise the public profile of co-operatives in the province. The releases were included in 794 different publications and received 7,957 views!
- We sent out 12 newsletters to our 3,700+ subscribers, providing them with news and updates on our programs and initiatives, as well as links to articles, jobs and events in the Ontario co-operative sector.
- We continued to post news and information on our Facebook and Twitter pages, totaling over 400 unique FB posts and 350 tweets.
- We developed and launched our Annual Report for the 2018-19 fiscal year, highlighting our success and challenges over the past year, and recognizing all the individuals and organizations that are part of our membership, sit on our committees, volunteer with us, and that support us with funding and sponsorships.
- We promoted the economic impact of co-operatives across Canada via social media.
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CO-OPERATIVE EDUCATION
- We hired a new program Director for the Co-operative Young Leaders (CYL) program, Carol Fleming.
- We hosted two sold out “Leadership in Governance” workshops in partnership with Gay Lea Foods Co-operative. Based on their award winning Leadership in Governance Training Program, the one-day interactive sessions were designed specifically for co-operative Directors and management with a responsibility for governance of small and medium-sized co-operatives as well as newly incorporated co-operatives.
- We began to develop an onboarding module to help educate employees in the co-op sector about the co-operative model and principles.
- 89 youth who represented 25 co-operatives and 26 volunteer facilitators who represented 10 co-operatives, participated in the CYL summer program held at the Co-operative Education Centre in Aylmer ON. Youth participants learned about the co-operative principles, practiced their communications and leadership skills through various co-operative activities, and designed an amazing piece of art to commemorate their week (see article below).
- Under contract with the Directors’ Forum, we helped organize a series of governance workshops for Board Directors of Ontario’s credit unions and caisses populaires. Over 120 directors attended the 35th annual fall conference, held at the Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale.
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2020 is already shaping up to be another busy year with some exciting plans and initiatives in the works...stay tuned for more information in the New Year!
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CYL Artwork Project Reflects on Principle Seven
The Co-operative Young Leaders program focuses on team building, leadership, communication and our co-operative principles. Throughout all levels of the program, we facilitate various activities and discussion on the value of the co-operative model and why our co-operative principles are as relevant today as they were years ago.
In order to facilitate a better understanding of our principles, we decided to focus on one co-operative principle each year. In 2019, we chose Principle 7: Concern for Community. Every participant did research on how their co-operative sponsor demonstrates their commitment to Principle 7. Participants then created a piece of art representing their co-operative’s understanding of this principle. At the end of the summer, we put all of the weekly artwork pieces together and had an artist create our vision for CYL 2019.
Artist Aprylle Martin resides in Hamilton ON where she, along with her husband, are raising five children. Aprylle is a member of a local credit union and works with schools and other organizations who work with youth, to promote creativity and foster understanding of our culture.
This artwork piece will reside at the Co-operative Education Centre owned and operated by Gay Lea Foods Co-operative. This site is also home for the Co-operative Young Leaders program, and we will be able to reflect on CYL 2019 and our co-operative principle of “Concern for Community” for years to come.
Keep up to date on Facebook and Instagram where we will announce our co-operative principle for 2020 and our plans to make it come to life!
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Hugh Nelson, Director
Executive Director, Y’s Owl Maclure Co-operative
Tell us a bit about yourself (i.e., your background (where you grew up, education, children, which co-operative you work for, your position, etc.)
I was born in Ottawa in 1951, attended Algonquin College and began my career working with people with disabilities in 1970. I met my life partner in 1974 and we spent 45 years together (until his death in August 2019). In 2004, I was asked to become the Executive Director at Y’s Owl Maclure Co-operative Centre – a co-op whose members have developmental challenges including Autism. The co-operative provides employment supports, recreation and leisure, youth transition, Supported Independent Living, and has several social enterprises including a café, a children’s store, and a store that specializes in products for special needs populations – all of these providing employment opportunities for our members. In wanting to recognize excellence, I have had the privilege of giving out an annual award to the “Best All Round Developmental Service Worker Graduate” at Algonquin College for the past 16 years.
How long have you been involved in the co-operative movement, and what do you love most about it?
Although aware of the co-operative movement, I became deeply interested in it as I took on my present positon 15 years ago. The fact that the model gave a voice to people with disAbilities was very affirmative to me, and I actively sought to find out more about the culture of co-operatives.
If there is one thing you would want people to know about co-ops, what would it be?
That they work for the members directly and have an impact on member’s lives much greater than any other business model.
Why is your co-operative a member of OCA?
We joined OCA as we wanted to be part of the voice that makes change in Ontario. We are a small co-operative, but as a member of OCA, it allows us to have a larger impact and bring the needs of the population with disAbilities to the attention of fellow members and the government.
What do you think are some of the benefits of being a member of OCA?
Directly for me, the chance to learn the depth and breadth of the co-op movement in Ontario, and to make contacts and build relationships with the many faces of our co-operative community.
Why did you decide to join the OCA board as a Director?
In deciding to join the Board of OCA, I considered what I had learned over the last 15 years, the knowledge that I had about the co-operative sector, but also bringing my knowledge of the disability sector to the table.
How has your past experience helped you in this role?
My experience with the local Ottawa Co-op Network, our own co-operative Y’s Owl Maclure, and the links with Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada through the Health Care Co-operatives Federation of Canada, provided me with contacts and a greater understanding of the political process both municipally, provincially and federally.
What do you think are some of the opportunities and challenges facing OCA in the next 3 - 5 years?
The Board of OCA is challenged by the scope of opportunities that are opening up for the co-operative sector across the province. People are thinking of co-ops differently and want to build unique models that will require OCA to expand our education and government relations efforts to new populations, which will be looking for alternatives for new business opportunities and ways of building communities.
What is your vision for OCA?
My vision for OCA is that we will become the leader in the development of co-operative growth in Ontario through our advocacy, partnerships, education and hands on involvement in the building of future co-operative initiatives throughout the province.
Share a fun/silly thing that not many people know about you!
One of the things that I love about the Board and staff at OCA is that they have a great capacity to laugh with each other no matter what the situation. I will go out of my way to bring humor into people’s lives which brings me great joy - and I gave up roller blading at the age of 65!!! Probably a little late.
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OCA Member Profile: Cooperation Council of Ontario
(Submitted by Nadine Olivier, Communications & Marketing Co-ordinator)
The Cooperation Council of Ontario (CCO) has been the leading association for economic, social and community development in Ontario since 1964. In 2018, we received a medal from the Senate of Canada for our vital role in the development of the province.
CCO is a social enterprise with both individual and organizational members. There are also several categories of members, each with different advantages.
We offer many services such as social enterprise and co-operative development, community economic development, research and innovation, organizational management and international affairs. Services are available to members and non-members and support community economic development, start up and management of social or co-operative enterprises and social innovation. They are aimed at groups promoting social collective enterprises, social enterprises, co-operatives, non-profit organizations and several government departments and agencies. Some of these services are free, while others are contracted.
CCO was founded in 1964 when Ontario's economic and community leaders, co-operatives and caisses populaires made the decision to build a strong economic and development organization. At that time, Francophone communities in Ontario relied heavily on the co-operative model and social entrepreneurship to empower themselves, enrich themselves, help each other; in short, develop in a healthy and sustainable way. To this day, the co-operative movement is an undeniable pillars of Ontario's Francophone economic landscape.
Several simple explanations exist to better understand the reasons that have made Francophone communities in Ontario fertile ground for co-operation and social entrepreneurship. First, these communities had no choice but to come together to preserve their peculiarities in environments that are often predominantly Anglophone. Secondly, Francophone cultures are cultures that have traditionally favored doing-together to the detriment of individualism. Finally, social and co-operative entrepreneurship makes it possible to maintain the roots and local governance of the various initiatives that emanate from them.
CCO is involved with communities all over Ontario. In the 2018-2019 fiscal year, we redistributed $266 100 to social enterprises and co-operatives, directly supported 185 social enterprises and co-operatives, and helped 27 new social enterprises and co-operatives. We also gave over 58 different workshops and activities and trained over 1,150 individuals.
2019 has been a year of change for CCO. We're rapidly expanding our operations and recently opened two offices in Windsor and Thunder Bay. We've also grown from a team of ten to 18, rebranded our logo and our image.
CCO recently launched the first bilingual online accelerator program, ACCELERATOR F dedicated to the development of the French-language markets provincially, nationally and internationally. Canadian or international companies aiming to capitalize on the International francophone markets can apply online before January 10th.
CCO is constantly on the move and bringing new projects, programs and activities that can directly benefit your organization, community or your personal development. Anyone can get involved with the organization by becoming a member (either as an individual or with your organization). You can keep in contact with the CCO by subscribing to our emails or following us on Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin.
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The staff team at CCO in May 2019 at the ACE, CASC, ICA CCR Conference.
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CO-OP CORNER: News, Events, Jobs and more!
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Want to #SpreadTheMustard and support our local Hamilton-area economy? The Mustard Seed Co-operative's Holiday Bag is just right - buy one for your best friend, sibling, other relatives, or for your entire office! Check out their website for more content and info on what's inside!
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Governance Professionals of Canada is hosting a “Co-operative and Credit Union Governance Summit,” intended to provide board members, senior leaders and governance practitioners strategic insights and inform governance best practices. January 27, 2020 in Vancouver BC. Learn more.
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The Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation is calling for papers for its 2020 conference, "Bridging Divides: Promoting Economic, Social, and Cultural Democracy." June 3 – 5, 2020 in London ON. Learn more.
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