5 social purpose co-ops helping communities recover from COVID-19
Why It Matters
Pandemic recovery will require community-led solutions โ to rising rates of food insecurity and addiction; to the lack of access to affordable childcare and pharmaceuticals; for the struggling arts sector; and more โ and co-ops could be well-positioned to provide them.
Despite one of Canadaโs most prominent co-operatives โย Mountain Equipment Co-op โ recently selling to an American private equity firm, the co-operative model is steadily growing in popularity (again).
In 2018, the latest available national data, there were 5,846 non-financial co-operative organizations in the country, up 92 from the previous year. Revenue generated by co-ops in Canada also jumped from $45 billion in 2016 to $52.9 billion in 2018.ย
Healthcare and social services represent 8.7 percent of Canadaโs co-ops โย and because of their co-operative model, these organizations could be well-positioned to lead community-level and community-informed recovery from the pandemic. Here are five emerging organizations tackling some of the most pressing issues, whose work is made all the more urgent by the COVID-19 crisis.
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