Is your co-op governance up to par?

| Education, Governance |

The news of MEC’s sale to a US corporate investment firm has raised many questions amongst the co-operative community, most of them centering on how a co-operative could be sold without engaging its members. Given there’s been little public information available around the conversations that transpired around the MEC boardroom, it would be speculation to … Continued

Back to School with BCCA’s new Co-op Education Toolkit and Workshops for Members

| Education |

Co-op education is one of the most important tools we have for sustaining our co-operative organizations and growing the co-operative movement. Over the summer, one of BCCA’s major focuses was on building out free and openly accessible resources for our members and other “co-op curious” groups to use for educating their members about the co-operative … Continued

Joint statement regarding sale of MEC

Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada (CMC) and the British Columbia Co-op Association (BCCA) are disappointed by the developments surrounding Mountain Equipment Co-op, which has long been Canada’s largest consumer co-operative and a valued member of CMC. “Co-operatives and mutuals have been our most resilient business model for over a century because of their values and principles, … Continued

Co-op Meetup: Assessing Your Co-operative Strategy

| Business |

On May 28, BCCA was proud to host John Kay of Realize Strategies Co-op as he discussed measures co-ops can take to review their strategy to determine if it is functioning or if it is time to pivot. During his presentation, John provided insightful questions you can ask to assess your business, including thinking about … Continued

We are Co-ops: How focusing on their members made Modo more resilient during COVID-19

By Samantha Lee In this week’s edition of “We Are Co-ops”, we are excited to share the story of how our member Modo put their membership at the front and centre during COVID-19 and made their co-op more resilient. We spoke with Selena McLachlan, Director of Marketing and Communications, to learn more about Modo’s story and … Continued

VALU CO-OP and Coming Together Vancouver announce mutual aid collaboration

VALU CO-OP and Coming Together Vancouver have collaborated on an exciting set of artist-designed and artist-produced specialty items available for purchase online. Made by unionized co-operative workers in VALU Co-op’s Chinatown Studio, each item will be made with care and will contribute directly to mutual aid initiatives in the Vancouver community. This grassroots initiative was … Continued

We are Co-ops: Shift, Adapt, and Overcome

Welcome to our newest series “We Are Co-ops” in which we profile our diverse membership and demonstrate the innovation the flexible co-op model supports and enables! This week, our Co-op Champion Madelyn Read, connected with Marc Baumann, member-owner of Shift Delivery, to learn about how they have been adapting to the COVID-19 crisis.   Marc … Continued

Co-op Meetup: Co-ops, Mutuals, and Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan

Daniel Brunette, Director of Advocacy and Partnerships at Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada (CMC) led our May 8th Co-op Meetup and shared his vast knowledge of federal financial programs and supports are currently available to co-operative businesses. Along with reiterating that co-ops have equal access to all federal COVID-19 emergency financial programs and supports, Daniel highlighted that … Continued