A shift in US bank policy. A demonstration in Greece. A tsunami in Japan. In recent times, these kinds of events have had profound effects on the economic well-being of Canadians. In such a heavily globalized environment, it may seem that only large corporations with access to transnational resources can operate successfully, but Co-operative Canada demonstrates that this is not the case. Despite economic pressures following the 2008 recession, co-operatives in Canada are thriving. In fact, there are approximately nine thousand co-ops across the nation with a combined membership of about 18 million members – more than half the population of Canada. Drawing on the results of a large research project that examined co-operatives in communities from coast to coast to coast, Co-operative Canada reveals how Canadians are using the co-operative model to collectively respond to the forces of globalization through local, community-owned enterprises. It does this through specific examples that vividly describe the pragmatic realities of the communities these co-ops serve.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Where We Stand – Place, Enterprise, and Community / Brett Fairbairn Part 1: Globalization, Autonomy, and Cohesion 1 Globalization, Co-operatives, and Social Cohesion / William D. Coleman 2 "Nuna Is My Body": What Northerners Can Teach about Social Cohesion / Isobel M. Findlay Part 2: Social Enterprises and Networks 3 "I Felt That I Had Lost Myself": Credit Unions, Economies, and the Construction of Locality / Brett Fairbairn with Rob Dobrohoczki 4 Autonomy and Identity: Constraints and Possibilities in Western Canada's Co-operative Retailing System / Jason Heit, Murray Fulton, and Brett Fairbairn 5 Social Cohesion in Times of Crisis: Atlantic Canada's Consumers' Community Co-operative / Leslie H. Brown Part 3: New Partnerships and Models 6 Reclaiming Community: Co-operatives and Sectoral Governance in Quebec Forestry / Patrick Gingras and Mario Carrier 7 Rebuilding "Home" in a Transient World: Globalization, Social Exclusion, and Innovations in Co-operative Housing / Mitch Diamantopoulos and Jorge Sousa 8 Co-operation Reinvented: New Partnerships in Multi-Stakeholder Co-operatives / Jean-Pierre Girard and Geneviève Langlois 9 "To See Our Communities Come Alive Again with Pride": (Re)Inventing Co-operatives for First Nations' Needs / Lou Hammond Ketilson 10 Imagination and the Future: Learning from Social Enterprises / Brett Fairbairn Appendix: The Enterprise with Many Names: Establishing a Common Language / Brett Fairbairn Index