Join us for a Co-op Workshop on May 20, 2025 at the University Club of the University of Alberta (Winspear Room). This event brings together academic researchers, co-op practitioners, and community leaders to foster meaningful dialogue and knowledge exchange on the challenges and opportunities facing co-operatives today.
Registration deadline: May 14, 2025
Event Highlights:
Academic Presentations: Hear from leading researchers studying co-operatives from the University of Alberta and the University of Saskatchewan.
Practitioner Insights: Gain valuable perspectives from co-op practitioners as they share their experiences, challenges, and success stories.
Discussion Panel: Engage in a dynamic conversation between researchers and practitioners as they explore the economic and policy research needed to address the challenges co-ops face. This panel aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice, offering actionable insights for the future of co-operatives.
Student Poster Presentations: Explore innovative research and ideas from graduate students as they showcase their work on co-operatives and consumer and producer studies in general.
Why Attend?
Network: Connect with academic researchers, co-op practitioners, and graduate students in a collaborative environment.
Learn: Gain insights into the latest research and practical strategies for strengthening co-operatives.
Contribute: Share your experiences and perspectives to shape the future of co-operative development.
This workshop is a unique opportunity to mobilize knowledge, build partnerships, and contribute to the growth and sustainability of co-operatives. Whether you’re a researcher, practitioner, or simply passionate about co-ops, your participation will help make this event a success.
Spread the Word: We encourage you to share this event with your network and co-op partners who may be interested in attending. Together, we can create a vibrant and impactful discussion about the future of co-operatives.
For more details, please contact Dr. Dan Yu at [email protected].
We look forward to seeing you at the workshop!
Logistics:
Parking:
Windsor Car Park. See the parking services website for current rates: https://www.ualberta.ca/parking-services/visitor-and-event-parking/rates.html
Registration:
General: 50 CAD
Student: 25 CAD
Breakfast, lunch, and coffee will be provided.
Location details
Address: The University Club of the U of A, Saskatchewan Drive Northwest, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Agenda
Tuesday, May 20
Tuesday, May 20
Governance Lessons Learned From Co-operative Failures and Demutualizations, by Dr. Dionne Pohler
Classic theories of governance developed in the context of investor-owned firms are not as useful for explaining governance failures and demutualizations of co-operative organizations. In this presentation, Dr. Pohler will outline a co-operative governance framework developed by scholars at the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives and apply it to understand what led some of Canada’s largest co-operatives to fail or demutualize such as Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), Coop Atlantic, the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, Economical Insurance and most recently, the B.C. Tree Fruits Co-operative.
The Unlikely Past and Uncertain Future of Small Credit Unions: Some Preliminary Findings, by Dr. Marc-André Pigeon
Canada’s credit unions started small and until relatively recently, stayed that way. Despite their small size, credit unions were able to challenge the dominant position of Canada’s large banks in several provinces. The movement grew and took up market share by incubating new credit unions (‘scaling across’), leveraging interpersonal trust and related ‘soft data’ while gaining economies of scale through centralizing shared services via three types of coordinating organizations: Co-operative Credit Societies (CCSs) for liquidity management and payments, Leagues for education and lobbying, and Stabilization Centrals for recovery, resolution, and deposit guarantees. Since peaking at more than 3200 credit unions in the late 1960s, the credit union sector has however consolidated dramatically, and now numbers fewer than 185 credit unions. Meantime, the central coordinating organizations long ago merged (i.e., CCSc and Leagues merged in the 1970s and 1980s) or have been effectively taken over by government (i.e., stabilization centrals are now government-governed deposit guarantee corporations). And with a handful of large ‘scaled up’ credit unions dominating the sector, the future of Centrals is now in question. These shifts pose existential challenges to the remaining small credit unions. In this talk, Dr. Marc-Andre Pigeon will share some early findings from interviews and data collection conducted with Dr. Dionne Pohler, showing how the remaining small credit unions are forging new paths to viability by leaning into the co-operative model in the face of disruptive technological change, relentless regulatory pressures, diminished Centrals, and the concentration of power in a few large credit unions.
Systems Theory, Cybernetics, and Co-operatives, by Dr. Murray Fulton
There has recently been a rejuvenation of interest in systems theory and cybernetics as people attempt to understand the uncertainty and interconnectedness that currently characterizes the world. This talk explores the insights that systems theory and cybernetics provide for understanding co-operatives and their behaviour. Particular attention is paid to the role of variability in structuring a co-operative’s activity.
Accessing Local Capital for Rural Community Development: The Case of Opportunity Development Co-operatives in Alberta, Canada, by Dr. Clark Banack
Community Investment Co-operatives, or Opportunity Development Co-operatives (ODCs) in the Canadian province of Alberta, represent an intriguing mechanism for rural community development that is fully aligned with Community Wealth Building principles. They are locally-driven entities designed to address a specific development issue faced by rural communities: the increasing difficulty rural entrepreneurs encounter accessing capital required to launch or grow their business. ODCs attempt to overcome this problem by soliciting local investments from community members via a co-op structure. By then investing this pooled capital in a local business, the ODC is directly supporting local community and economic growth while retaining more wealth in the region and generating a return on investment for co-op members. However, the number of ODCs operating successfully in Alberta is dwarfed by the number that have failed to make an investment in a local business. This study highlights three successful examples of ODCs in rural Alberta before noting the central barriers ODCs typically encounter and outlines various factors that can move this concept forward.
Opportunity Development Coops: The “Real Goods” From The Playing Field, by Dan Ohler
Co-ops are a proven and powerful model for community-driven economic success. A relatively new model, the Opportunity Development Co-op, or Investment Co-op, can play an impactful role in preserving essential businesses and driving economic stability within communities, especially small rural communities. It is an effective model to unleash local capital to transform challenges into opportunities for local economic growth and resilience. It’s not for the faint of heart, yet the rewards can be immense.
This session offers actionable insights, best practices, and strategies for community revitalization, including exploring the regulatory landscape governing capital-raising co-operatives.
You’ll also learn how a newly formed coop, Community Capital Solutions Co-op (CCS), provides tailored expertise and support to communities embarking on capital-raising initiatives.
TBD, by Kyle White
Speakers
Murray Fulton
Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan
Professor Emeritus
Murray Fulton is a Professor Emeritus in the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and a Fellow in Co-operatives and Public Policy with the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, University of Saskatchewan.
Murray’s work is currently focused on agricultural co-operatives, agricultural and rural policy, Indigenous economic development, and the political economy of public policy. He is the co-author of a number of books and reports, including Canadian Agricultural Policy and Prairie Agriculture and Co-operatives and Canadian Society. He recently spent two months at Lincoln University in New Zealand as the inaugural Ross Fellow, where he gave a series of seminars on agricultural supply chains, systems theory, the political economy of public policy, and agricultural co-ops.
Marc-Andre Pigeon
Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives; Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan
Director and Strategic Research Fellow; Assistant Professor
Marc-André Pigeon is the director of the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives and an assistant professor in the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (JSGS). His research centers around the study of co-operatives, governance, and money and banking. Before joining JSGS, Dr. Pigeon worked as vice president, advocacy and vice president of financial sector policy at the Canadian Credit Union Association, as an advisor at the Department of Finance, a lead analyst for two Parliamentary committees (Senate Banking, Trade and Commerce; House of Commons Finance), an economist at the Levy Economics Institute, and a business reporter for Bloomberg Business News.
Dionne Pohler
University of Saskatchewan Edwards School of Business; Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives and and the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy
Associate Professor; Co-operative Retailing System Chair in Co-operative Governance
http://www.dionnepohler.comDr. Dionne Pohler is department head and associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan Edwards School of Business Department of Human Resources and Organizational Behaviour and holds the Co-operative Retailing System Chair in Co-operative Governance with the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives. Her research is on topics including employment and labour relations, labour and social policy, and co-operative governance and development. Major current projects include explorations of co-operative successes and failures, rural issues, the gender earnings gap, and COVID-19 policy impacts. She edited Reimagining the Governance of Work and Employment (2020) and co-edited Building Inclusive Communities in Rural Canada (2023). Dionne was a founding director of Co-operatives First, a nonprofit created following an action research project dedicated to understanding how rural and Indigenous communities could meet their social and economic needs through co-operative development.
Clark Banack
Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities; Political Studies, University of Alberta - Augustana Campus
Director; Assistant Professor
Dr. Clark Banack is the Director of the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities and an Assistant Professor of Political Studies at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta. Clark is the author and co-editor of three academic books and has published several academic articles and chapters on rural issues, Alberta politics, religion and politics, education policy, and populism in Canada. He is currently leading several rural-based research projects related to sustainable economic development opportunities, co-ops and rural economic development, farm succession planning policy, the transition to renewable energy in rural areas, and better understanding rural public opinion.
Kyle White
Co-operarives First
Director of Education
Kyle is the Director of Education with Co-operatives First. He develops and delivers our educational products and supports clients to incorporate and govern their co-ops. Originally from Newfoundland and Labrador, Kyle came to the prairies to pursue a Master of Public Policy degree from the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan. Kyle’s career has focused on corporate and co-operative governance and community economic development. Aside from his work with Co-operatives First, Kyle is a runner, history-buff, and fitness enthusiast.
Dan Ohler
Dan is a proud husband, father, life-long entrepreneur, and community-builder.
Dan was instrumental in the incorporation of Sangudo Opportunity Development Co-operative (SODC)
in 2010, the first of its kind in Canada. This led to working with Alberta Community & Cooperative
Association (ACCA) developing the Unleashing Local Capital program. Over the years, he has spoken
about Community Investment Co-ops in dozens of communities across Western Canada, the Yukon,
and the USA, inspiring numerous Community Investment Co-ops.
Dan has worked with the ACCA team to support new and existing Community Investment Co-ops.
Great examples of this are the Vermilion Community Development Co-operative in 2021 and the
Homestead Investment Co-op in Edmonton.
Dan is also a Founding Board member of Community Capital Solutions Co-operative, a new
multistakeholder co-op focussed on supporting investment co-ops in their capital raising process.
Besides being a “heads-down-bum-up-get-‘er-done” kind of guy, Dan is a Professional Certified Coach
with the International Coaching Federation, a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming,
and has numerous other certifications which allow him to bring out the best in community leaders.