In February 2020, the Canadian CED Network issued a statement of solidarity with the Hereditary Chiefs, community members, and land defenders of Wet’suwet’en.

Nineteen months later, the situation is much the same. Land defenders continue to oppose the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline; again, the government and corporate sector are ignoring these demands and are instead deploying militarized police to forcibly remove Indigenous people from their own lands. This time, though, the situation is unfolding in the wake of historic floods and landslides that have devastated the territory and much of British Columbia — as well as an ongoing pandemic that is far from over. All of this puts in stark relief the connections between colonialism, the climate crisis, and the profit motives of extractive industry.

Since February 2020, the CCEDNet staff, Board, and member network have embarked upon multiple processes to help deepen our collective understanding of settler colonialism and white supremacy. In our Theory of Change, we commit to using “an intersectional, intersectoral, and collaborative approach” focused on collective liberation, so that we may build a world where “sustainable, inclusive, and equitable communities [direct] their own futures.” In our Policy Priorities, we name reconciliation, nation-to-nation dialogue, and the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as guiding concepts for our work. And through our internal anti-oppression learning journey, staff and Board members have grappled with questions of how forces such as systemic racism, patriarchy, and colonialism show up in our work. All of these commitments have strengthened our resolve to take action for decolonization and economic justice.

Self-determination is central to community economic development. The Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the Hereditary Chiefs, who are responsible under Wet’suwet’en law and governance for making decisions relating to their ancestral lands, has still not been obtained. Therefore, we re-affirm our solidarity with the Hereditary Chiefs, community members, land defenders, and all those standing with Wet’suwet’en.

We share our original statement here in full below. (Note that we have updated the resource list at the bottom.)

February 18, 2020 – The Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) stands in solidarity with the Hereditary Chiefs, community members, and land defenders of Wet’suwet’en.

We recognize the sovereignty of the Wet’suwet’en Nation over these unceded lands and that all of the Hereditary Chiefs of the five Wet’suwet’en Clans have rejected the proposed TC Energy Coastal GasLink pipeline. We call on the RCMP to immediately stand down from Wet’suwet’en Territories.

The Canadian Government has committed to restoring relationships with Indigenous peoples. Indigenous title is protected by the Canadian Constitution and has been upheld by decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada. Both the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP – endorsed by Canada in 2016 and by BC in 2019) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission affirm the fundamental principle of “Free, Prior and Informed Consent” not just of the elected band councils, but also of the clans and the Hereditary Chiefs. We call on federal and provincial governments to uphold UNDRIP in honouring the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s right to Free, Prior and Informed consent and negotiate with the Wet’suwet’en Nation on a true nation-to-nation basis.

With deep respect for Indigenous traditional knowledge, CCEDNet recognizes the inextricable links between extractive capitalism and colonialism, and advocates for economic levers for change that contribute to community and environmental well-being.

Wet’suwet’en people are standing up to protect the lands and waters and showing the world what it means to defend the future through democratic, participatory, and community-owned approaches. In doing so, they are also affirming sovereignty over the care and keeping of our common home – the original definition of ‘economy.’

Construction costs alone for the Coastal GasLink pipeline are estimated at $6.6 billion. This figure does not account for the expense of RCMP deployment; neither does it include the billions of dollars in subsidies that the Canadian government pays to the oil and gas industry every year.

A number of Wet’suwet’en First Nations have signed Impact Benefit Agreements and would derive economic opportunities important to their communities. But imagine if an equivalent investment was instead made in a just transition toward an ecological economy built through co-operation and decolonization. We would be able to address the climate crisis with the resources and urgency it demands, while ensuring access to vital community services and decent work.

In this era of climate crisis, it’s more important than ever for the decisions that impact communities to be rooted in local knowledge and led by communities. Wet’suwet’en land defenders are teaching us all how to stand up for an economic reality that honours the earth and all beings – prioritizing community well-being over corporate profits.

We call for investments to build a society where all people and communities, now and into the future, may experience a good quality of life. We call on our members, collaborators, friends, and allies to join in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation by condemning ongoing colonial violence against Indigenous people and communities, including forced removal, and by uplifting the voices and actions of land defenders and allies.

In solidarity,

The Canadian Community Economic Development Network

Want to understand the situation more deeply?

We encourage people to keep learning and doing their own research, and offer a few resources below:

Visit the Gidimt’en Yintah Access website for media stories and videos from the frontlines
Read Dr. Pam Palmater’s analysis of the connection between the arrests of Indigenous land defenders and the profit motives of extractive industry
The Office of the Wet’suwet’en and Unist’ot’en both provide detailed information on the nation’s Hereditary Chiefs and governance system
For analysis of Indigenous legal orders and hereditary governance systems more broadly, the Indigenous Law Research Unit at the University of Victoria hosts a wealth of resources on their website
A piece on the differences between elected and hereditary leadership (CBC)
The Wet’suwet’en, Aboriginal Title, and the Rule of Law: An Explainer (First People’s Law)
Putting the RCMP raid on the Wet’suwet’en in Historical Perspective (Toronto Star)
United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination resolution calling for a halt to Coastal GasLink construction

Want to find a way to offer support?

Donate:

To the Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders Legal Defense Fund
To the Office of the Wet’suwet’en by mailing a cheque to 205 Beaver Road, Suite #1 Smithers B.C. V0J 2N1

Call provincial and federal ministers and industry leaders:

BC Premier John Horgan (250) 387-1715
Attorney General David Eby (250) 387-1866
BC Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth (250) 356 – 2178
Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marco Mendicino (613) 992 – 6361
BC Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Murray Rankin (250) 953 – 4844
MLA for Stikine (Wet’suwet’en Territory) Nathan Cullen (250) 387 – 3655
Federal Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson (613) 995 1225
Prime Minister Trudeau (613) 992 4211
Federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller (613) 995 – 6403
Find contact information for your provincial MLA and federal MP
Put pressure on KKR, the private equity firm financing Coastal GasLink pipeline.

With thanks to Gidimt’en, Unis’tot’en and the Sierra Club of BC, from which the additional resources above have been adapted.

Conseil de la coopération de l’Ontario (CCO) is releasing an important new contribution to the social finance ecosystem, in partnership with CCEDNet. They have surveyed the status and prospects of participatory community investment practices in Ontario. This new report includes analysis of the current ecosystem for this promising model in the province, as well as examining the current regulatory landscape, with comparisons to other jurisdictions in Canada.

“Community Investment Organizations … effectively bridge the gap between local investors and local ventures in need of financing. CIOs create cost-effective, community-owned, and controlled impact funds. The longer a dollar can circulate within a community, the greater its multiplier effect will be. In other words, when local money is invested in local projects and people, it stays in the community in the form of wages, rents, and local purchases – thereby increasing its impact on a community’s economic development many times over. CIOs are tangible measures that provide flexible and local capital from community members for priorities that are community led.”

Based on this fulsome analysis, the report makes recommendations which are broken down by different groups. For instance, they recommend that interested investors need to be patient but also committed to raising issues of importance that might benefit from community investment. And government regulators could create a more enabling environment through simplifying the offering statement process or incentivizing investors by making these types of investments RRSP eligible or creating other tax credits.

Alongside this report, they are also launching the Ontario Community Investment Organization Start-Up Guide, adapted from the original created in British Columbia. This is an important step forward in building the capacity of the Ontario ecosystem to support community-led investing models.

Read Community Investment in Ontario: Status and Prospects
Check out the Ontario CIC Start-Up Guide

To find out more about this Ontario report or seek support for an Ontario based CIO idea, contact report author and CCO team member Édouard Sylvestre at edouard.sylvestre (at) cco.coop.

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This project has been completed in partnership with the Ontario Trillium Foundation. It also connects to CCEDNet’s work during the recently completed federal Investment Readiness Program. As part of that program, we brought together leaders interested in CIO models from various regions across the country to explore what’s needed to strengthen and raise the profile of these community-owned and -led models in the emerging social finance landscape.

To find out more about CCEDNet’s work on CIOs or the Investment Readiness Program, contact Sarah Leeson-Klym at sleesonklym (at) ccednet-rcdec.ca

COVID -19 threatens to accelerate the retirement of business owners across rural Atlantic Canada. This is a real challenge. Co-operatives and Social Enterprise offer a solution.

Recent reports from the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC) have said COVID-19 is hitting rural communities much harder economically, and the recovery process is more like a ‘K’, with some population groups doing alright through the crisis while others are hit much harder including women, youth, marginalized and racialized groups.

Although this Business Recovery, Stabilization and Succession project was first envisioned nearly two years ago as CCEDNet and community partners across the Atlantic region identified the need to preserve local economies by supporting retiring owners to transition their businesses to a social enterprise or co-operative business model, it has become even more important, and relevant to a much larger target audience, since the onset of the pandemic.

Working together with Flourish Community Development Co-op, Co-operative Enterprise Council of New Brunswick, CDR-Acadie, and a range of other national and local stakeholders working on business succession models, we have completed an action research project to compile data about the local economic situation, the variety of tools already available to support business succession processes using a social succession strategy, and test learning resources and other content with various groups of stakeholders and communities.

The scope of the business succession challenge facing Atlantic Canada is very great. Social succession presents a solid solution. But, the lack of awareness of social succession as an option and resources to support people who choose that option is substantial.

The research team is developing a strategy based on these findings focused on raising awareness, building capacity and piloting supported social successions.

Download:

To find out more, contact :

Laurie Cook with Flourish Community Development Co-op at
Sarah Leeson-Klym with CCEDNet at

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For more on social succession:

The Legacy Leadership Lab by WISIR at University of Waterloo is an important resource in this field. Read their final report to learn more about their findings and plans moving forward.
CoopConvert is a collaborative, research-oriented project looking specifically at business conversions to co-operatives. They have a growing set of case studies and reports available online.

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The Business Recovery, Stabilization and Succession project is generously funded by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) under the Atlantic Policy Research Initiative, which provides a vehicle for the analysis of key socioeconomic policy issues in Atlantic Canada. The views expressed in this study do not reflect the views of ACOA or of the Government of Canada. The authors are responsible for the accuracy, reliability and currency of the information.

In Victoriaville, Quebec, a web series of eight video clips featuring thoughts and insights from Bill Ninacs recently was launched.

In this series, Bill shares his vision of the evolution of various social and societal trends since the beginning of his career. He discusses, among other things, social intervention, consultation, innovation and integrated development.

Through stories drawn from his personal and professional experiences, he invites the audience to consider these topics from a new perspective. Additionally, Bill presents reference documents selected from his work in order to deepen the themes explored in the capsules. The intimate approach to the videos gives the impression of being in conversation with Bill over drinks.

“For a long time now, I have been trying to align economic development with social development. I must continue to contribute, because the world has not yet changed as I would like it to change. So I still have work to do, “says Mr. Ninacs, who remains optimistic about the future.

“Bill Ninacs proved to be a key player in the foundation of the Collectif des partenaires en développement des communautés, and above all, he played an essential role in discussions on community development in Quebec. This project is an extraordinary way of continuing to promote the importance of community development solidarity!” asserts Nadia Cardin, coordinator of the Collectif des partenaires en développement des communautés.

“In contributing to the video series, our intention was to make Bill Ninacs’s immense contribution known and easily accessible. The significance of his reflection and practice is vital for anyone interested in subjects as important as the fight against poverty and social exclusion, community action, community mobilization and empowerment. It is an indispensable reference in terms of community capacity building, “says Jean-Marc Chouinard, president of the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation.

“The City supported the project without any hesitation. Ninacs conveys thoughts that are totally coherent with the local government in terms of sustainable development, including social and economic development. The City of Victoriaville engages in providing its people with a harmonious, inclusive and sustainable environment. His monumental involvement within the community has improved our living environment,” declares Antoine Tardif, Mayor of Victoriaville.

Bill Ninacs has contributed to the development of several community initiatives. He participated in the founding of the Conseil québécois de développement social and of the very first community development corporation in Quebec, the Corporation de développement communautaire des Bois-Francs (CDCBF). He has also campaigned for the rights of disabled people, the fight against poverty and support for vulnerable populations through an equity lens. Finally, he was the recipient of CCEDNet’s Stronger Together Award in June 2021.

The series, aimed at anyone interested in social issues, is intended to be very accessible. It is subtitled in English and French, as well as Quebec Sign Language (LSQ). All of the capsules as well as links to additional documentation are available at billninacs.ca.

billninacs.ca

The Canadian Community Economic Development Network is excited to announce our third invitation for organizational members to apply to employ youth through the CreateAction: Inclusive Social Innovation work experience program. Not already a member? Check out how you can join the network (including barrier-free options) by visiting CCEDNet’s membership page.

**About CreateAction**

The purpose of CreateAction is to provide employment and career-relevant learning opportunities to youth not in education, employment or training (NEET) AND facing barriers to employment. These placements will take place under the terms and conditions of a contribution agreement between the Canadian CED Network and Employment and Social Development Canada as part of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy.

The Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) and the National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC) are working in partnership to deliver the CreateAction program with funding by Employment and Social Development Canada and with evaluation support from the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation.

All work experience placements will support youth to further their career interests in community economic development, social innovation and/or off-reserve Indigenous service delivery infrastructure and provision of culturally enhanced programs and services to urban Indigenous residents.

This call for proposals is for placements taking place from January 10 to July 8, 2022 (26 weeks). The CreateAction program will provide to youth a wage of $19.50/hour for 37.5 hours/week. Employers may volunteer to increase their youth’s wages at their own expense. The deadline for submitting applications is October 22, 2021 at 11:59pm Pacific Time.

Employers will be selected according to the following criteria:

commitment to supporting and accommodating the needs of youth facing barriers to employment and a willingness to increase organizational capacity accordingly;
a commitment to the principle that the CreateAction program is first and foremost a program designed to support youth facing barriers to employment;
a willingness to hire a youth who is a best fit for the program goals;
have a position available that aligns with the level of a youth facing barriers to employment, and be willing to adapt the position based on the skills/abilities of the engaged youth;
commitment and organizational capacity to assist youth with their daily work, providing coaching and career development support;
geographic diversity (e.g. rural, remote, Indigenous, northern, francophone communities outside of Quebec, and urban disadvantaged communities with recent immigrant populations);
demonstrated ability to recruit and support people who are Indigenous, Black, racialized, LGBTQ2S+, newcomers to Canada, francophone, and/or live with disability;
commitment to participate in a peer support network of employers;
dedication to supporting the youth in leveraging the work experience into full-time employment or study;
ability to recruit and support youth not in employment, education or training (NEET);
ability to recruit and support youth from diverse backgrounds with barriers to employment;
capacity to adequately support skills development for youth, with additional support from the CreateAction partners;
relevance of proposed work experience to community economic development, social innovation, and/or off-reserve Indigenous service delivery infrastructure and provision of culturally enhanced programs and services to urban Indigenous residents (visit NAFC’s website).

Priority will be given to organizations that provide social supports for adults or youth as part of their mandate (e.g. organizations serving or supporting newcomers, refugees, survivors of violence or people escaping abuse, formerly incarcerated people, and people experiencing/overcoming mental health challenges, substance use disorders, precarious housing, etc).

Employers will:

offer a meaningful 26-week employment opportunity;
actively seek out youth candidates from diverse backgrounds with barriers to employment;
hire a youth who is a best fit for the CreateAction program;
provide youth with an orientation to the employer;
develop, at the beginning of the placement, a Learning Plan with youth;
develop and implement a plan to provide sufficient support services to enable the youth to succeed at their placement;
provide sufficient resources and time to effectively supervise and mentor work experience youth;
commit to weekly meetings with youth to support their learning objectives;
set aside a minimum of:
- six (6) hours per month for the work experience youth to participate in peer learning activities, and
- three (3) working days for the youth to participate in an in-person or online learning event.
provide, with support from the CreateAction program, career advice, regular feedback and guidance to youth and assist youth in laddering into further career relevant employment or education at the end of the placement;
provide youth with all reasonably required working materials;
contact the Canadian CED Network for support and guidance if ever there are issues that you or the youth are experiencing and whenever the youth might be absent from work;
participate in three (3) or more employer national virtual sessions with the Canadian CED Network and other selected organizations;
work with the CreateAction program evaluators on evaluation related activities, such as activities involved with a midterm check-in and a final evaluation;
identify candidates by December 17, in order for work experience youth to start placements on January 10;
become a member of the Canadian CED Network after selection, if not already a member.

CreateAction partners (CCEDNet, NAFC and SRDC) will:

pay youth directly at a rate of $19.50/hour (though employers are welcome to top up the amount) and cover MERCs (mandatory employment related costs);
assist employers with the necessary advice and support to carry out the activities and realize the objectives of the program;
provide, in concert with employers, tailored wraparound supports for youth including supporting the capacity of employers in their ability to provide social supports for youth;
provide a robust peer learning and mentoring program for work experience youth’s ongoing professional development for the duration of the placement;
coordinate weekly drop-in video conference calls for youth to learn, share experiences, and to network;
host a virtual platform (Slack) for youth to connect and share experiences throughout the CreateAction program;
coordinate three (3) video conference calls for employers to share experiences a

d to network;
work with employers to offer mediation support or resolve disputes arising with work experience youth;
work closely with employers in the event of crisis or conflict with work experience placement, including any decision to terminate the work experience placement as a last resort;
conduct baseline, end of placement, and 3-month follow-up surveys with youth and an end of placement survey for employers to monitor progress, track youth learning, and capture youth outcomes, career expectations and satisfaction.

**To participate in the CreateAction program, eligible youth must be:**

not in education, employment or training (NEET);
a youth experiencing barriers to employment;
between 15 and 30 years of age (inclusive) at start of placement;
Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or protected persons as defined by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act;
legally entitled to work in Canada;
legally entitled to work according to the relevant provincial/territorial legislation and regulations.

How to apply?

Complete an application online here

If you require an offline application, please contact Matthew Thompson at the coordinates below. The deadline for submitting applications is October 22, 2021, at 11:59pm Pacific Time.

Youth interested in the program should apply directly to the employers. The successful employers will be announced on the Canadian CED Network’s website.

For more information, please contact Matthew Thompson, Director of Engagement, or Andri Mulia, Program and Engagement Manager, at .

CCEDNet is excited to offer this learning series to increase capacity among our members for policy and advocacy work. The 2021-22 offerings are based on CCEDNet’s policy priorities, as well as members’ responses to a survey conducted in the Fall of 2020.

Webinars are structured around presentations, followed by Q & A and some time for informal networking.
Campfire chats provide opportunities for members to learn from one another’s experience in an informal peer-to-peer learning environment.

Note: This series is designed to strengthen the work of CCEDNet members!

To join CCEDNet or to find out more about our barrier-free membership policy, click here.

WEBINAR: Employee & Community-based Ownership Succession and Buy-Outs
October 14, 2021

Even before the pandemic, business succession was a growing challenge due to Canada’s aging population. Learn more about opportunities for employees and communities to convert businesses to co-ops or social enterprises while increasing democratic ownership, improving resiliency, revitalizing neighbourhoods, and in many cases saving businesses from closing down.

CAMPFIRE CHAT: Sharing Policy Strategy & Efforts
November 4, 2021

We are stronger when we work together! Explore the overlaps between your policy priorities and those of others, and figure out ways to complement each others’ efforts.

WEBINAR: Community Investment Organizations
December 2, 2021

Recent years have seen increasing interest in strategies that redirect investments for community benefit. Based on the proven success of Nova Scotia’s CED Investment Funds, other provinces have launched CED investment and tax credit programs, and communities across the country are organizing to redirect capital to local needs. Find out more about this inspiring work and the levers that are available in your region.

CED approaches with a strong commitment to democratic processes create the most relevant, resilient, adaptive, equitable, and effective strategies for communities to benefit and thrive. Similarly, democracy at a macro level puts power in the hands of people, fostering policies and decision-making that are more relevant to our communities and our lives.

We can – and should – engage in our democracy between elections. But, election periods provide an opportunity to remind politicians that we are here, we have a voice, and we’re going to use it!

Take Action, Get Involved

Listen to your local candidates, party leaders, and the election discourse. Who supports sustainable, inclusive local economies? Watch for commitments and language that are consistent with CCEDNet’s national policy priorities, such as:
- Reconciliation, nation-to-nation dialogue with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples
- Leadership of Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, and other equity-seeking groups; dismantling institutional racism, sexism, and other forms of systemic oppression
- Just transition towards an ecologically viable, low-carbon future
- Social economy, social enterprise, social innovation, social finance
- Social procurement
- Community investment funds
- Community-based ownership of local businesses
- Community-based broadband / high speed Internet
- Workforce development, particularly for vulnerable and underrepresented groups
- Decent work

Ask questions. When candidates come knocking at your door, or you find yourself at an all-candidates debate, be ready to ask them their views on the things you care about! For inspiration, here are the questions that CCEDNet has sent to all the parties.

Read about the parties’ commitments. We’ve compiled a list of platform commitments that prioritize community economies. Three parties responded to our survey: NDP response, Liberal response, Bloc Québecois response (only available in French). If you have a bit more time, check out the full platforms which can be found on each party’s website.

Vote! For information on where and how to vote, see Elections Canada’s website.

Support these relevant campaigns:

The Stronger Together Award celebrates individual and organizational members who have made exceptional contributions to Community Economic Development and/or who have provided outstanding leadership to CCEDNet in achieving our vision of sustainable, equitable and inclusive communities directing their own futures.

The next Stronger Together Award nomination period will take place in Spring 2022. But you don’t have to wait until then to nominate a fellow CCEDNet member for this recognition. Please reach out to Adriana Zylinski at for more information.

2021 STRONGER TOGETHER AWARD RECIPIENTS

West Central Women’s Resource Centre

Rosalind Lockyer

Armed with passion and a unique vision for women’s equity in Canada, Rosalind Lockyer witnessed first-hand, the discrepancies in support between men and women on their journeys to achieving business success. She founded the PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise in 1995 and it has become a one-of-a-kind organization that has since supported 22,003 women in Ontario to achieve their business dreams. Over 27 years, PARO’s programs have expanded phenomenally, allowing for the growth of the team and the reach of the organization, which now boasts over 180 Peer Lending Circles in Ontario, categorizing the PARO Circle Network the world’s largest women’s Peer Lending Circle conglomerate. As an organization that now operates Ontario-wide, Rosalind Lockyer has led PARO into new dimensions, leading the way for other organizations to better support women entrepreneurs. As a leader, a pioneer and a trailblazer, Rosalind has guided countless women toward self-sufficiency, resilience, incomparable inspiration and true family-style support system between PARO partners, stakeholders, staff and clients.

In her continued efforts towards gender equality, diversity and inclusion, Rosalind is co-founder of the Women’s Economic Council, board member for Ontario for the Women’s Enterprise Organizations of Canada, represents the Ontario Hub for the Canada-wide Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub, and an original member of the People-Centred Economy Group of the Canadian CED Network.

For her endless efforts, Rosalind received the prestigious Influential Women of Northern Ontario Award-Public Sector, the Women of the Decade in Community Leadership Award from Women Economic Forum in New Delhi, India in 2018,and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Lakehead University in May 2021, recognizing her contribution to the field of humanities, and the fabric of the community in Thunder Bay, Northwestern Ontario, and beyond.

Additionally, Rosalind was a long-time member of CCEDNet’sPolicy Council from 2001 to 2011, serving as the Chair or Co-Chair for many years, and consequently as Board Director for those years as well. She has served on CCEDNet’s Finance and Audit committee since 2012. She was an active partner organizing the National Summit on a People-Centred Economy in 2010, and has been a consistent member of the People-Centred Economy group since.

Wendy Keats

Across local, provincial and national levels, Wendy Keats’ impact as a CED leader, her abilities, talents and decades of work in the field, has proliferated and sown many seeds of community economic development inspiring groups to self-sufficiency and self-governance. Moving among community groups, organizational boards of directors and governmental strata, Wendy has shown tremendous versatility in offering her many abilities for maximum impact.

Wendy led the efforts to bring a completely new Cooperatives Act to New Brunswick resulting in the province having the most up-to-date provincial co-op legislation in the country. She also led the effort to bring the CED Investor Tax Credit program (CEDC) and the landmark CED Investment Fund, launching after a long incubation in New Brunswick, is predicted to have huge economic impact on behalf of and especially for rural communities. Partnering with organizations having similar economic aims, Wendy, in her capacity as Exec Director of the CECNB, has worked in research into the potential for using co-operatives and social enterprise to address the business succession crisis in Atlantic Canada.

Wendy Keats was the founding Executive Director of the Co-operative Enterprise Council of NB that grew into a sustainable CED organization that is now a leader across Atlantic Canada with 20 staff and a number of innovative programs aimed at building healthy communities and local economies. She is the President of one of the first CED Investment Funds in NB. Wendy is also the Vice President of Sentinelles Petitcodiac Riverkeeper, the organization known worldwide for having saved the most endangered tidal river in Canada. Over the past 40 years, she has worked directly with over 400 nonprofits, co-ops and social enterprises to help them build their sustainability, sitting on dozens of Boards, including CCEDNet, and working tirelessly on numerous provincial and national policy initiatives.

Wendy’s engagement with young people, fostering their passion and eagerness to contribute to their communities in meaningful ways, demonstrates a lifelong commitment toward the coming generations and the world they are inheriting. Especially written for Wendy, by BC singer songwriter, Michael Averill, the 2016 song “Stronger Together”, exemplifies her best-foot-forward, arm-in-arm with others, philosophy of living and working.

William Ninacs

Bill holds a PhD in social work – a rare doctorate on community economic development in Quebec. He has been active in CED for over 25 years as a researcher in this field and in the fields of empowerment intervention, local community development and the social economy, with publications in French and English. He has taught at the School of Community Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University and in the CED program at Concordia University. Bill has also held an adjunct faculty position at the Université du Québec en Outaouais.

Bill’s background includes management positions in the public and private sectors as well as extensive experience in the community field where he has helped set up and support advocacy and service groups, consumer and worker cooperatives and other social organizations. He was the coordinator of the first community development corporation in Quebec (of which there are now over 50); a long-time consultant with La Clé Cooperative in Victoriaville; the Quebec Co-Director of the Canadian CED Network; the Acting Executive Director of CCEDNet; most recently a member of the CCEDNet Board of Directors.

He has been an influential thinker and practitioner of community economic development drawing his ideas as much from his professional experiences and research as from his experience as a person with multiple disabilities.

Fireweed Food Co-op

Fireweed, multi-stakeholder community service cooperative of both food consumers and producers, is dedicated to creating a more stable market for locally, sustainably, and ethically produced food in Manitoba. Their mission is to reduce barriers to, and increase participation in, the local food system for all people from producers to eaters.

Their South Osborne Farmers’ Market, and special off season events, while building strong community networks, feature learning opportunities that focus on food security and systems change. As a member of CCEDNet they have passionately contributed to the advocacy work on social procurement for the City of Winnipeg.

As a fairly young cooperative, Fireweed exemplifies an incredible approach to social, economic, and environmental justice and to building fair local economies. Their quick innovation and collaborative spirit to meet urgent community needs has led them to partner with the Winnipeg Mutual Aid Society in response to COVID-19 and offer the Waste No Food Box Program, a program that helps distribute food to Winnipeggers experiencing food insecurity. Fireweed has also responded to a long-standing identified gap in the regional supply chain and launched a flagship community food hub that aggregates and distributes locally produced food on behalf of their producer members to wholesale buyers to build up a more resilient food system.

West Central Women’s Resource Centre

Situated in the west end of Winnipeg, the West Central Women’s Resource Centre (WCWRC) empowers women, families, and the community to move from where they are to where they want to be. WCWRC integrates CED principles, action research, collaboration and public policy change elements across their work while providing programs focused on housing, food, employment, child care, essential needs, Indigenous healing and newcomer settlement. With a unique approach to mentorship – focusing on internal empowerment, the centre helps recipients of services transition as they move from a position of receiving services to leading social change efforts including leading and influencing the center itself.

WCWRC has been a strong model for intersectional, place-based community development addressing local and urgent needs and forming partnerships and networks to create needed impact. They have partnered with Spence Neighbourhood Association and others to create a warming centre and shelter during Winnipeg’s coldest months and demonstrated tremendous resilience and innovation through COVID-19’s many challenges, pivoting rapidly to serve the needs of the community, remaining throughout, a hopeful and dedicated presence in the community.

Their commitment to community extends as well into strong engagement within the CCEDNet Network. WCWRC contributed to CCEDNet Manitoba’s policy roadmap, integrating gender-based analysis ensuring women’s issues are included, has been a regular contributor to The Manitoba Gathering and a variety of coalitions CCEDNet is active in.

Blending strong direct service provision with a bigger vision of systems change, the West Central Women’s Resource Centre is above all a hopeful and fiercely dedicated presence in the Winnipeg community.

2020 STRONGER TOGETHER AWARD RECIPIENT

Diana Jedig

2019 STRONGER TOGETHER AWARD RECIPIENT

Eunice Grayson

Stewart Perry

Rankin MacSween

The Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) is embarking on an ambitious website redevelopment project to bring our online presence up to date and create a core site that better serves our current needs, clarifies and distills our work for our audiences, and is highly accessible and attractive.

We are seeking a website developer that in addition to being technically proficient, is aligned with our work and values, understands the complexity of our communications needs, and has a strong understanding of user experience. Noting our values of inclusion, diversity, and equity, we especially encourage proposals from developers representing demographics commonly facing exclusion in the web development field.

Responses should include the following:

Brief proposal explaining suggested approach and workplan including recommended platform and plug-ins, and your fit for the outlined work including how you align with CCEDNet’s mission and values.
Budget including estimated cost to meet the overall requirements and separated estimates for each of the 7 functional elements described above. CCEDNet may choose to move forward with only some of those elements with the successful contractor.
CV or portfolio of past work and clients and 2 references.

Read the full Request for Proposals

Deadline and Contact Information

Deadline for final submission is 11:59am Eastern time, Monday, June 28, 2021.

The proposal document and any questions regarding the call for proposals should be emailed to:

Matthew Thompson, Director of Engagement

Read the full Request for Proposal

As we approach our 2021 Annual General Meeting, we are looking back on 2020.

How do we tell the story of such a year? How do we honour the pain and grief experienced the world over, while at the same time celebrating the solidarity, mutual aid, and resilience that were born from the turmoil? How do we leverage our collective power to protect and nurture CCEDNet members, communities, and life itself — all while caring for ourselves?

These questions guided CCEDNet’s actions last year, and we are tremendously proud of what staff, members and partners have accomplished together.

Capacity Building

In partnership with the National Association of Friendship Centres and Social Research and Demonstration Corporation, we launched CreateAction, a program that will ultimately place 100 youth facing barriers to employment in internships with social impact organizations and Friendship Centres across Canada.
In addition to regular pro bono matchmaking work (which moved online), our Spark service took over the social enterprise development services that were previously provided under the Social Enterprise Manitoba program.
We led a rebranding and website redevelopment project for S4ES and welcomed Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada to the partnership.
We formalized a partnership with Social Economy Through Social Inclusion (SETSI) to advance African-Canadian priorities in the social economy and inform CCEDNet’s efforts to center the lived experience of African-Canadians.
CCEDNet has been an active partner in a Solidarity Working Group, co-ordinated by SETSI, of social innovation and social finance stakeholders committed to rooting out racism, colonization, and exclusion.
Building on a commitment to intersectionality in our new Theory of Change, CCEDNet staff and Board continued learning on anti-racism, anti-oppression, and collective liberation.
As part of the Investment Readiness Program, SETSI delivered an incubator for 15 African-Canadian social entrepreneurs and we’re working together to bring these perspectives more strongly to the federal table, including co-presenting a Knowledge Event to staff at Employment and Social Development Canada about how the government can more effectively work with African-Canadian communities.
We re-designed the Community Leadership Program for virtual delivery and resumed training for community agencies seeking to strengthen the leadership and learning of their staff.
Aiming to elevate awareness of community investment models like community investment co-ops and CEDIF’s within the federal Investment Readiness Program and elsewhere, we partnered with the BC Community Impact Investment Coalition, Co-operative Enterprise Council of New Brunswick, and Conseil de la coopération de l’Ontario to convene two regional communities of practice, a national stakeholder group, and complete several reports and capacity-building projects.
In Atlantic Canada, we launched Business Recovery, Stabilization, and Succession, an action research project with Leading Edge Community Development Consultants Co-operative, Co-operative Enterprise Council of New Brunswick, and CDR-Acadie began exploring how to support retiring or struggling local businesses through succession to collective enterprise. Alongside this work, a stakeholder analysis of key local innovators and early adopters for this approach is being developed.
The Local Organizing for Fair Economies community of practice held six sessions exploring how local organizing principles and approaches create more sustainable, fair and inclusive economies.

Building Ecosystems

Image of sculpture representing connection

Across BC, Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario, we partnered with provincial leaders to convene stakeholders, advocated for enabling policy change, and raised practitioner needs in the federal arena around community-led social innovation and social finance. This included a new social economy working group hosted by BC Co-op Association, the emerging AB Seed group, CCEDNet-Manitoba, and the Ontario Social Economy Roundtable.

Research and Innovation

We continued our work advancing the Common Approach to Impact Measurement, and our Executive Director Mike Toye was appointed to the initiative’s first official governance group.
Research continued on the Work Integration Social Enterprises research project, which will wrap up in 2022.
The Community Data Program developed an interactive COVID community recovery dashboard and began a new Solutions Lab on Community Decision-Making Tools for Housing Issues.

Membership Engagement

We continued developing our Theory of Change, presenting a draft version to members at the 2020 AGM and refining the document based on feedback.
We launched a quarterly member communiqué, packed with insights and opportunities for members, that generates high open rates and click through rates. We also created English-language and French-language Google Groups to enable CCEDNet members to exchange ideas and resources.
We hosted the Manitoba Gathering online for the first time, packing the event with high-impact presentations, intimate conversations, and musical performances. Over 300 people attended.

Communications

Image of flowers with text: "there is no racial justice without economic justice: we can't breathe if we can't eat"

We published several multi-channel communications campaigns in response to the urgent events through the year, including Statement of Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en, Strengthening our Connections in Tender Times, and No Racial Justice Without Economic Justice: Black Lives Matter
Based on Cate Friesen’s Story Source trainings, we integrated storytelling into our fundamental communications strategy.
We laid the groundwork to embark on a massive overhaul of the CCEDNet website, a project we have since launched.

Public Policy

We hired Raissa Marks, our Government Relations Director, thanks to an investment by five leading members, drastically increasing our capacity for government relations, policy, and advocacy work.
We launched the Strengthening Community Economies Policy & Advocacy Capacity-Building Series for CCEDNet members.
CCEDNet’s Policy Council updated our National Policy Priorities and the CCEDNet-convened People-Centred Economy Group prepared recommendations for the recovery and post-COVID-19 economy on behalf of the social economy sector. In support of these policy priorities and recommendations, many meetings were held with MPs, Ministers and ministerial staff, and civil servants, and countless letters were sent advocating for our recommendations.
We advocated for legislation to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples following an AGM resolution calling for such action.
We organized a public advocacy campaign to advocate for a federal Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy, which resulted in 68 emails being sent to at least 50 different MPs.
CCEDNet Manitoba convened the We Want to Work coalition, advocating for a social procurement policy at the City of Winnipeg and laying the groundwork for future policy progress.

We remain committed to building on all these accomplishments by strengthening the approach laid out in CCEDNet’s new Theory of Change: an approach that is intersectional, intersectoral and collaborative, led by people and communities who are experts in their own lives.

Many thanks to the members, funders and staff who make this work possible.

Join us by becoming a member, or support the movement for sustainable, equitable and inclusive communities by making a donation.

View our 2020 Highlights document

Starting any business is challenging, and co-ops are no different. As veteran co-op developer Russ Christianson observes: “Like any good business, a co-op requires an excellent business plan, sufficient start-up capital, and the tenacity of its founders. There will be long hours, many meetings, and low pay in the start-up phase.”

Fortunately, the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation (CWCF) is offering a way to smoothen this phase of a worker co-op’s development with the upcoming launch of its Worker Co-op Academy, a five-month program that will guide groups of entrepreneurs who are ready to move forward into the business planning stage of their enterprise. This program will help participants discover the other side of launching a co-op: the fact that, as Russ further observes, “there will also be breakthroughs, exciting developments and the internal reward of accomplishing something important to you and your community.” In contrast to traditional businesses, worker-owners at worker co-ops participate in the profits and oversight of the enterprise on a democratic basis. The model has proven to be an effective tool for creating and maintaining sustainable, dignified jobs; generating wealth; and improving the quality of life of workers.

The online Worker Co-op Academy with Russ as its Lead Instructor and now launching May 31, 2021 (the application due date is May 20) offers the opportunity to achieve all of these things, supported by experienced co-op developers who will provide each group with 20 hours of one-on-one coaching. Groups will be surrounded by other participants who will share the successes and challenges of bringing their ideas to life. And each group will also play an important role in the development of the Worker Co-op Academy itself, as this pilot program will help CWCF test its process, tools and virtual aspects.

CWCF already knows there are a lot of great potential co-ops out there, co-ops for which the Worker Co-op Academy could make the difference between success and failure. Whoever you are, wherever you are in Canada*, and whatever your plan, we encourage you to consider applying.

If you want to find out more about what a worker co-op is please join us in on the monthly webinar “What is a worker co-op?,“ next offered on June 22. Note that this is also a prerequisite for those who are planning to apply for the program. Additional program information is available here; the intake process, intake form and application form can all be found here. If you have any questions feel free to contact Communications and Member Services Manager ">Kaye Grant.

*Note that if your co-op will launch in Quebec, we refer you instead to the Parcours COOP program offered by the Réseau COOP; see this link.