A century of co-operation

Co-ops by the numbers

The Beaver: Member-owned 

co-operatives and credit unions are involved in many spheres of Canadian community life and operate in the agricultural, consumer, housing, insurance, and financial sectors... 

The Co-operative Union of Canada held its first meeting in Hamilton in March of 1909, before merging with the Co-operative College of Canada in 1987 to form the Canadian Co-operative Association.

* 4 Canadians in ten are members of at least one co-op.

* 8,800: The number of co-ops and credit unions across Canada.

* 155,000: Canadians employed by co-operatives and credit unions.

* 30 billion: Dollars in business generated by Canadian non-financial co-ops each year.

* 2: The number of times more likely a co-operative enterprise is to survive after five years, compared to an investor-owned business.

* 70: Percentage of Quebec's population belonging to at least one co-op.

* 2,100: The number of Canadian non-profit housing co-ops, which together are home to more than 250,000 people.

Image source: CCA