Co-op Conversations
The Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives' (CCSC) Co-op Conversations is a monthly online gathering for co-operative sector professionals to learn from others in the field and exchange information in a casual setting. The CCSC believes that the best learning is peer-to-peer, and casual conversations across different organizations are what break old thinking patterns, make new connections, and generate fresh perspectives. Each Co-op Conversation will be held during lunch hours (Saskatchewan time) on the first Wednesday of the month.
Our Co-op Conversation Series is taking a summer break and will be back in September for another season. Stay tuned on our website and/or social media channels for details!
Past talks can be found here: Past Co-op Conversations.
MacPherson Talk
The 10th Annual MacPherson Talk featuring Joseph Heath
Are Co-operatives More Virtuous than Corporations? featuring Dr. Joseph Heath
There are several sectors of the economy in which cooperatives have flourished, competing successfully against standard business corporations. The best explanation for their success is that they provide superior benefits to their members. The question that will be the focus of this talk is whether co-operatives also provide important benefits to society, such that non-members should prefer a co-operative economy to one dominated by business corporations. It has often been suggested that co-operatives are more virtuous, because they are more democratic, less hierarchical, less anti-social, and less apt to produce economic inequality. In this talk, Dr. Joseph Heath will evaluate these claims, while questioning whether co-operatives are all that different from corporations.
About our Speaker
Dr. Joseph Heath is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. Dr. Heath is a renowned and award-winning philosopher and author. He is the author of several books, both popular and academic, including Filthy Lucre and The Rebel Sell. His most recent book is titled, Cooperation and Social Justice.
Event Details
Date: December 5, 2024
Time: 4:00 – 5:30 PM (Saskatchewan Time or Central Standard Time)
Where: This is a hybrid event and will take place in Prairie Room, Diefenbaker Building (101 Diefenbaker Place, University of Saskatchewan) and on Zoom
File: Download Event Poster
Fredeen Lecture
The Fredeen Lecture is hosted annually and features the research of the most recent recipient of the Hartley and Margaret Fredeen Scholarship in Co-operative Studies. This scholarship is offered annually to a student who is conducting research on co-operatives, either entering or continuing studies in a master's or doctoral program at the University of Saskatchewan.
The 2024 Fredeen Lecture (featuring Eylin Jorge Coto)
Analysis of the Government Relations between Credit Unions and Farm Credit Canada featuring Eylin Jorge Coto
Despite playing a pivotal role in the Canadian economy – credit unions serve more than 10 million people– their participation in policy advocacy (outside-in lobbying) and policymaking (inside co-design) remains understudied. Building on early scholarship suggesting that co-operatives are ill-suited to either role because of the often-divergent needs and interests of their membership, this research explores a case where credit unions have had to engage in advocacy and policymaking to protect their business and purpose against intrusions from Farm Credit Canada (FCC), a government-owned agricultural lender that, unlike other government lenders, operates in competition with the private sector and without a ‘complementarity’ mandate. This presentation will describe the evolving relationship between credit unions and FCC over the past 50 years, identify the lessons learned, and suggest its implications for future policy advocacy and policymaking efforts by the Canadian credit union sector.
Presented by Eylin Jorge Coto, Recipient of the 2023 Hartley and Margaret Fredeen Scholarship in Co-operative Studies
Eylin Jorge Coto is currently completing her Master of Public Policy degree at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, while serving as a research assistant at the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives. Eylin has further held roles such as an intern for the Mayor's Office in Saskatoon, where she helped to coordinate the "Women Leading Civic Engagement Forum".
Event Details
Date: November 27, 2024
Time: 1:00 – 2:00 PM (Saskatchewan Time or Central Standard Time)
Where: On Zoom
File: Download Event Poster
Past lectures can be found here: Past Fredeen Lecture.
Special Talks
The Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives hosts additional periodical public lectures featuring topical research and visiting scholars. Below you can find our most recent special talk and an archive of special talks we have hosted in the past.
Introduction to the 2025 Canadian Co-operative Governance Survey Webinar
The Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives recently launched the 2025 Canadian Co-operative Governance Survey. This national survey gathers data on governance practices in Canadian co-operatives, including board composition and procedures, compensation, training practices, diversity, etc. By participating in this survey, co-operatives will receive free access to the Co-operative Governance Online Dashboard. This tool allows organizations to benchmark your governance practices against those of your peers, view your organization’s governance data, and generate sector-wide reports in one convenient location.
This webinar will provide an introduction to the survey, a demonstration of the Dashboard tool and its functions, followed by an interactive session to answer any and all questions that participants might have.
If you are currently on a board of a co-operative and/or credit union in Canada and interested in learning how this data could help to improve your governance practices, this webinar is for you!
Event Details
Date: Tuesday, June 17
Time: 10:00 - 11:00 AM CST (Saskatchewan time)
Where: On Zoom (free to attend)
Past talks can be found here: Past Special Talks.
Co-operatives in a Time of Crisis
In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian Centre for the Study Co-operatives launched the "Co-operatives in Times of Crisis Conversation Series", which asked leaders in co-operatives, big and small, how they were making use of their co-operative structure to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis.
Jen Budney, Professional Research Associate, the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives and former Chair, the Spadina Early Learning and Childcare Co-operative
Past talks can be found here: Full Series Conversation.