Late in 2024, I had the honour of speaking at an event hosted by Women’s Multicultural Resource & Counseling Centre (WMRCC) at a conference in support of its Worker Cooperative Development Program. The session, held at the McLean Community Centre in Ajax, ON, was a well-attended gathering of WMRCC’s members and the broader community. The one-day event featured engaging and knowledgeable presentations from representatives of Canadian Women’s Foundation, Freedom Dreams, Solid State Community Industries, and Iler Campbell LLP, as well as speakers from each of the four worker’s co-ops that had, thus far, been established with the help of WMRCC’s Worker Cooperative Development Program.
It was the presentations by the representatives of the four worker’s co-ops that I enjoyed the most. Established to employ workers in a sewing co-op, a cleaning co-op, a personal service worker’s co-op, and an artists co-op, these four businesses are shining examples of the power of worker’s co-operatives. They shared many heartwarming stories about the benefits they found in their particular co-op.
WMRCC serves many individuals, most of whom were not born in Canada, and many of whom have faced barriers to entering the workforce. For such individuals, the opportunity to join a worker’s co-operative clears a path not only to finding gainful employment but an opportunity to be their own boss and own their own business.
Against a backdrop of increasing political authoritarianism, the concentration of wealth and political influence, and the growing entitlement of those holding protectionist/nationalist views, Canadians should be proud of their continued support for worker’s co-operatives. WRMCC and its Worker Cooperative Development Program shows all of us that everyone can benefit from supporting principles of democratic control, participation, autonomy, cooperation, education, and mutualism, to name but a few. When part of a worker’s co-op, these principles are not merely fodder for jargon-ridden mission statements used by multinationals as public relations, but are instead a very real description of the experience of each worker who, collectively, is directly involved of every aspect of their self-owned and self-operated businesses.
In choosing this path, these “new Canadians” who have (with the help of WRMCC’s Worker Cooperative Development Program) started worker’s co-ops haven’t simply assimilated into Canada’s multicultural tapestry, they have become models of excellence within it.
How can you support this excellence? I encourage you, all of you, to consider your alternatives when shopping, and whenever available, buy from a co-op.
Support rabble today!
We’re so glad you stopped by! Thanks for consuming rabble content this year.
rabble.ca is 100% reader and donor funded, so as an avid reader of our content, we hope you will consider gifting rabble with a donation during our summer fundraiser today.
Whether it be a one-time donation or a small monthly contribution, your support is critical to keep rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to rely on as a part of a healthy media diet.
Become a rabble rouser — donate to rabble.ca today.
Nick Seebruch, editor
