Co-op Research - BC Co-operative Association

Research helps the co-op sector understand where it’s been, where it stands, and where it can grow. This page brings together studies on the co-operative economy in Canada and British Columbia, from national research on the sector’s economic impact and development ecosystem to BCCA publications on the BC labour market, co-op survival rates, and co-op solutions in areas like elder care and sustainable cities.

Whether you’re a co-op leader looking for evidence to inform a decision, a policymaker or researcher exploring the sector, or someone thinking about starting a co-op, we hope you’ll find something useful here.

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Strengthening the BC Co-op Ecosystem (July 2026) Shift Collaborative Co-operative

This project set out to begin mapping the BC co-operative service delivery ecosystem, and to engage co-op actors in sense-making around strengths, challenges and opportunities linked to leadership and core services in the system. The focus was on the nature and health of co-op infrastructure or how we are working across the system, rather than on co-ops themselves.

The Economic Contribution and Impact of Canada’s Co-operative and Mutual Sector (June 2026) Fiona Duguid

This study conducts a multi-faceted economic contribution and impact analysis of Canada’s co-operative sector — encompassing co-operatives, credit unions, caisses, and mutuals. It aims to advance knowledge of the sector’s achievements and potential by providing global and Canadian context, highlighting illustrative cases tied to key priority areas and analyzing the economic contribution and impact of the sector in Canada and the Canadian economy

Snapshot of the Canadian Co-op Development Ecosystem (May 2026) Denyse Guy

This report aims to identify prominent enablers that support our Canadian co-operative development ecosystem. The purpose of this report is to strengthen Canada’s collective entrepreneurship by making resources more accessible. This will increase opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to start, scale and grow.

Co-operative Internationalization in Canada – A Scoping Paper on Programs, Gaps and Pathways. (May 2026) Samuel Barco

A scoping paper examining why Canadian co-ops export at roughly half the rate of other small businesses, and how federal programs and measurement could better recognize and support co-op international activity. It offers recommendations for federal policy and sector-level infrastructure.

Strengthening Equity and Access to Development Supports in Canadas Co-operative Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (May 2026) Christine Clarke & Daniela Guerrero

Interview-based research on the barriers equity-deserving entrepreneurs face in Canada’s co-op ecosystem, and recommendations for funders, policymakers, and co-op organizations on financing, regulation, and culturally responsive development support.

Publications

BCCA/Ference & Co. BC Co-operative Sector – Labour Market Environmental Scan. Ference & Co., July 2016.

An in-depth study on the key characteristics of the co-op sector including: sector size, ownership structure, industry sector, geographical distribution, characteristics of the workforce, labour issues, role of post-secondary recruitment to the sector, constraints to development of the organizations, and key trends affect the co-op sector in BC.

Ference & Co. analyse the strengths of the BC co-op sector as well as the weaknesses and challenges it faces. This study also includes action recommendations for the provincial government, co-op organizations, industry, and academia to support, strengthen, and promote the co-op sector in BC.

Restakis, John. The Co-operative City. BCCA, June 2011.

The City of Vancouver has committed itself to being recognized as the world’s ‘Greenest City’ by 2020. In this paper, Restakis examines and proposes a long-term partnership between the City of Vancouver and the co-operative and credit union sector for the support of the City’s sustainability agenda in a number of key areas including: renewable energy, affordable housing, food security and local food systems, arts & culture, and social inclusion. It argues that the key element to making Vancouver’s sustainability vision a reality is the adoption of social technologies that both embody and advance the social values and relationship found within the City’s sustainability goals. This paper also explains that it is important that the City not only encourages the participation of its citizenry in its sustainability vision, but that it also fosters the creation of lasting social institutions that can carry on this vision independent of the City itself.

Although this paper is specifically centred around the City of Vancouver, Restakis’ findings and examples are equally applicable to other municipalities interested in co-op solutions that will mobilize citizens around sustainability goals.

Murray, Carol. Co-op Survival Rates in British Columbia. BALTA (The BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance), June 2011

This study assesses the survival rates and success factors of operating and dissolved co-operatives in BC between 2000 and 2010. This research paper investigates the following: the number and variety of co-ops incorporated in BC over the last ten years, conditions that gave rise to the incorporation of these co-ops, survival rate of incorporated co-ops, reasons for a co-op’s discontinuance, ways in which a co-op’s early development and incorporation might be assisted, and ways by which a co-op’s demise might have been averted.

Restakis, John. Co-operative Elder Care in Canada. British Columbia Co-operative Association, 2008.

In 2006, a National Task Force was established by the Canadian Co-operative Association to examine the state of elder care in Canada and explore the role that the co-op movement could play in addressing what was emerging as a national care crisis. This report is the culmination of two years of national research into what problems are faced by seniors and in what ways is the co-op model being used to help elders and their families deal with the challenges of aging.

In addition to outlining the state of elder care and identifying the issues most in need of attention, this report examines a variety of co-op models that respond to the diverse needs of seniors from a wide range of income levels, physical and mental capacities, and social realities. These current co-op models that focus on senior care offer a wide range of creative solutions and high standard of care which are replicable in a wide variety of settings.

Restakis, John. Social Co-ops and Social Care: An Emerging Role for Civil Society. British Columbia Co-operative Association, 2003.

An introduction to the nature of social care and its relation to civil society. Along with a brief history of how social co-ops were first created in Italy, this discussion examines the Italian social co-op model and what the success social co-ops have had around the world means for Canada.