This summer, a House of Commons Special Committee on Co-operatives is studying the situation of co-ops in Canada. As part of the Committee’s consultations, CCEDNet prepared a brief that highlights the important contributions co-operatives make to Canadian communities, and makes the following recommendations:
- the creation of an independent, national, cooperative development fund
- measures so that co-operatives are eligible for existing federal business development programs and policies
- the renewal of a co-operative development program
- the re-estasblishment of a standing interdepartmental committee on co-operatives
- the transfer of responsibility for co-ops from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to Industry Canada
