Discover Co-ops

We often talk about climate change at a planetary level. Headlines focus on rising temperatures, shifting weather patterns, and global emissions targets. But for Canadian communities, the impacts are immediate and local. They show up in flooded basements, encroaching wildfires, heatwaves, disrupted harvests, rising insurance costs, and growing pressure on already stressed systems.

Last month at the Worlding Feminist Economic Symposium at the University of Toronto, conversations around co‑operative economics, ROSCAs, art, and the law revealed a truth our sector rarely says out loud: communities have been building co‑operation long before formal co‑ops existed. From lending circles and mutual aid networks to informal shared‑wealth systems, people have always created ways to meet collective needs when institutions fall short.

Co‑operatives are powerful engines for social and economic change — but in Canada, we’re still far from tapping into their full potential. We know the co‑operative model works. We know it’s built on values and principles that centre community, democracy, and sustainability. And yet, when it comes to inclusion, many co‑ops struggle to understand what it looks like, how to measure it, and most importantly, how to act on it.