Registration is open for the 2025 C0-op Development Online Training Program:

Financing Modeling and the Triple Bottom Line: Essential Tools for Co-operative Enterprises

Instructors and mentors are ready to educate and empower the next generation of co-operative developers!

Visit www.coopzone.org/services to complete the training program registration form.

Students can enroll in one or two classes that interests them or sign-up for the full program.

🌱 Thinking about applying for the Impact X Social Enterprise Conference & Pitch Competition?

The deadline to apply is next Monday, October 20th, but don’t worry — we’ve got you covered.

💡 Join us this Friday, October 17, from 4–6 p.m. in the Ted Daigle Auditorium for a Pitch Practice Workshop hosted by the STU Social Enterprise Hub!

This hands-on session will help you:
✨ Workshop your pitch and slide deck
🗣️ Get feedback to sharpen your message
💪 Build confidence before the big event
📊 Finetune your presentation before applying

Whether your idea is polished or still in progress, this is your chance to level up your pitch before submitting your application!

👉 RSVP by emailing us at socialenterprisehub@stu.ca — and yes, there will be light refreshments!

📅 October 8, 2025
🕑 2:30 – 3:50 PM
📍 McCain Hall 308

Join Rezaul Haider, Business Startup Specialist at Ignite, for an engaging workshop on how to craft and deliver an effective business pitch and develop a compelling business plan. With over a decade of international experience in brand building, market strategy, and venture development, Reza brings a global perspective to supporting local entrepreneurs.

This workshop will provide practical insights on pitching your ideas with confidence, structuring a business plan that resonates with investors, and preparing your venture for sustainable growth. Whether you’re an aspiring founder or refining an existing idea, you’ll leave with tools to move from vision to action.

Register here!

In a time when people are seeking meaningful ways to align their money with their values, co-operatives offer a powerful model for ethical investing. Special guests Chris Caners, General Manager of SolarShare Co-operative and Sean Campbell, Executive Director of Union Co-operative, will share how co-ops in the renewable energy and affordable housing sectors provide opportunities for individuals to invest in the future they want to see, whether it’s a cleaner planet or more equitable access to housing. Learn more about how community-owned co-ops enable members to generate both social and financial returns through democratic ownership and shared purpose.

Venue Virtual

Starts Tue Sep 16 2025, 12:00pm EDT

Ends. Tue Sep 16 2025, 1:30pm EDT

Register Here!

Curious if your social enterprise idea has what it takes? Join Brandy Old and Craig Elias —entrepreneurship coaches passionate about helping first-time, underrepresented, rural, and student founders — as they share practical strategies to test your ideas, avoid common pitfalls, and launch with confidence. With experience working alongside global thought leaders and running innovative workshops like Playing Lean, Brandy and Craig bring hands-on insights to help your idea take flight.

Register here!

REGISTER ON EVENTBRITE

September 9, 2025 12-1 pm ET

Understanding your co-op’s financial systems and reports are the key to building your co-op’s financial strategies and resilience.

Join other worker co-ops in two webinars with Russ Christianson, a long time co-op developer. In this  webinar, Russ will review your new and improved financial statements and budgets and discuss your co-op’s progress with your peers.

Please note these webinars are for members of CWCF members only.

Registration is open for the 2025 C0-op Development Online Training Program:

Co-operating on Climate: Co-ops and the Climate Emergency

Instructors and mentors are ready to educate and empower the next generation of co-operative developers!

Visit www.coopzone.org/services to complete the training program registration form.

Students can enroll in one or two classes that interests them or sign-up for the full program.

About the event

This is the Co-op Support and Development working group meeting of workers.coop. If you're interested in helping provide specialist co-op support, services, training, networking to grow more worker co-ops, you're welcome along.

As one of two main strategic groups of workers.coop, the Co-op Support and Development group delivers specialist co-op support, services, training & networking to help grow more worker co-ops. This group was previously named the 'Member Learning' working group. Read more about the role of the group here.

This group meets the third Thursday in a month, every 2 months.

How to join:

•  Zoom Meeting link

• Agenda is shared with working group members ahead of the meeting

• Meeting time: 14:00-15:30

• Aimed at: anyone interested in co-op development and who can commit to meetings every 2 months, read more here about the group. If you are interested in helping us deliver against this sort of purpose and domains, you are welcome to attend, or just observe, this meeting.

• Get in touch with questions via solidarity[at]workers[dot]coop

Purpose:
To be a member led space creating and delivering our co-operative support and development mission:

• Providing access to coop support services and specialist training

• Providing networking opportunities

• Supporting coops to identify and develop new trading and development opportunities

• Providing opportunities for those interested in cooperatives to connect to and learn from existing work coops

• Providing guidance and support for starting, converting to or growing working coops

Domains:

• Responsible for creating our co-operative support and development strategy and work plan based on the overall strategy and budget set by workers.coop

• Oversee the delivery of this strategy and work plan through commissioning projects

• Create a safe and genuinely egalitarian culture and space for supporters and worker members to explore, decide and oversee our strategy and delivery of work.

Description

New CHF Canada members are invited to participate in our monthly Membership Call! This live webinar is designed to help you get the most of your CHF Canada membership. You’ll learn about member benefits, service offerings, events, and more. Participants also have the chance to exchange ideas in an open discussion forum and network with other members.

Though this call is geared towards new members, all are welcome. It’s a great opportunity to refresh your knowledge of your membership benefits, ask questions and to hear from members of our co-op housing community.

These are free events, hosted on Zoom.

About the event

The Communications working group meet the third Monday of each month and welcome new members

Come along if you'd like to join the workers.coop Communications working group.

We meet monthly on the third Monday of each month, at 3.30-5pm. We are a fun, small and organised group. Our members include workers from Unicorn, Principle 6, Creative Co-op, Media Co-op and Agile. You do not have to be experienced in Comms to join. You're welcome to drop-in to a few meetings to get a sense of the work that we do first.

Purpose:

To shape and deliver both strategic and operational communications on behalf of workers.coop. To ensure we have a compelling and consistent narrative and brand. To promote both our new federation but also play a leading role in how we talk about worker co-operation and any future campaigns. To make the system of worker control accessible to new audiences and generations of workers.

Meeting info

• Meeting link

• Email solidarity@workers.coop if you'd like to join the group, one of our members will induct you

• Meetings last 1.5 hours

About this Member Council:

A USFWC member space which serves as a conduit between national worker coop networks and the communities doing grassroots economic and racial justice work rooted in racial, gender, economic, environmental, and disability justice; trans and queer liberation; and anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism.

This meeting will have interpretation between English and Spanish / Esta reunión tendrá interpretación entrel inglés y español 

https://info.usworker.coop/civicrm/event/register?id=799&reset=1

A community of practice for organizers building thriving local worker co-op ecosystems. Join us on Zoom!

https://info.usworker.coop/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=831

Let's explore housing re-localized in episode #5! Join our panel of passionate housing advocates as we sample a few "alternative" housing opportunities in Nova Scotia (and across the region): co-op housing, community land trusts, and a first-in-Canada community investment company for housing! 

We will begin with an interview/panel discussion, followed by a Q&A. 

Webinar context:

The world is changing at an unprecedented pace, leaving many individuals and communities with a sense of uncertainty, and in many cases, worry. How do we respond to this rapidly changing world? How do we strengthen our local agency and resilience, socially, economically, and ecologically? With newly imposed tariffs that threaten to worsen the financial realities within our communities, we want to shine a light on thriving examples of re-localization in our region! 

Re-localization is a concept and movement with an aim to become more self-reliant in our production and consumption (while reducing reliance on distant supply chains) in everything from energy, to food, to climate solutions, and beyond.

This series will be held on the last Thursday of each month from 12-1pm Atlantic and will explore examples of re-localization across Atlantic Canada.

REGISTER/RSVP HERE:

https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/webinar-5-housing

We are building bridges between worker cooperatives and organized labor. Participants meet to plan workshops at various labor and co-op conferences around the country, share information about and resources with local projects, and arrange for participants to engage in media exchanges, among other activities.  Join us on a monthly call! 

Check out the council's website at unioncoops.org

We're working in partnership with the Centre for Democratic Business, thanks to funding from The Co-operative Bank, to deliver a series of FREE webinars to discover co-ops.

The arts and cultural industries contribute approximately £124 billion – or 5% – to the UK economy every year. Yet there are plenty of challenges for people within this sector – with squeezed funding, digitisation, and unstable freelance work, sustaining careers, spaces, and opportunities can be a challenge.  

That’s where co-ops can help. They can empower creativity, create work opportunities, preserve vital spaces and provide support that empowers individuals to thrive within their chosen field of work. Find out how the co-operative model is making a difference.

Speakers:

• Two Queens (Dan Kelly): A community owned, artist-run gallery and studios supporting Leicester’s creative scene

• Creative Co-op (Ben Philp): A worker-owned creative agency specialising in ethical branding, design, and digital solutions

The free webinar will be taking place online on July 15, 10:30 - 12:00 online. 

A member-wide council forwarding worker ownership and worker-centered values through legislative and government relations work at federal, state, and local levels.

This sign-up indicates interest in the general Policy and Advocacy Council. Members who sign up are added to the USFWC's Policy and Advocacy Council member listserv and will be added to the calendar invitation to the monthly council calls.

Date - Wednesday July 2nd, first Wednesdays monthly 
Time - 3pm Eastern / 2pm Central / 1pm Mountain / 12pm Pacific, 90 mins
Cost - Free 
Language - English 

Join the USFWC | Únete a la USFWC

The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives hosts this monthly webinar for groups and people at the very early stages of their worker cooperative project. The webinar describes key steps toward getting off the ground, and where problems often occur. It includes chapters on building your group's democratic capacity, business, and environment of support, in a participatory conversational format. Attendees are offered 30 minutes of free consulting after the webinar from the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives!

• To access more resources for startups see our Startups page. 

• To see all our available technical assistance resources for worker co-ops, check out our Co-op Clinic page. 
  

We're working in partnership with the Centre for Democratic Business, thanks to funding from The Co-operative Bank, to deliver a series of FREE webinars exploring how democratic business models like co-operatives are transforming local economies and communities.

Within the last decade, there's been an influx of communities taking on local assets, from libraries to pubs and music venues to community centres. 

This session explores how community shares, a form of democratic investment, has supported communities to acquire vital buildings and land, and launch services, and ensure these spaces and services benefit communities. 

Speakers:

• Annoushka Deignton, former Chair of Friends of Stretford Public Hall, a community owned historic public hall and cultural venue for South Manchester

• Signalise Co-op (Jennifer Bird): A multi-stakeholder co-operative owned by Deaf people and interpreters, providing inclusive communication services

The free webinar will be taking place from 10:30-12:00 on 1 July, online.

Are you interested in becoming a Buy Social Canada Certified Social Enterprise?

Join the growing network of Certified Social Enterprises, businesses that sell goods or services, embed a social, cultural or environmental purpose into the business, and reinvest the majority of profits into their purpose.

You are invited to register for the Social Enterprise Certification Informational Session on

Thursday June 26 at 10am PST/ 1pm EST.
Online on Zoom

In this session we will discuss:

• Benefits of becoming a Certified Social Enterprise

• Criteria for certification

• How the process works for every type of incorporation model

• What’s involved in onboarding and how we verify each organization

• Answer any questions you may have about the certification process

https://www.buysocialcanada.com/event/social-enterprise-certification-informational-webinar-3/

⚡ Next up: LOCAL ENERGY! ⚡

Interested in learning more about some of the existing local energy projects in the Maritimes? Wondering how they got started? Interested in doing the same in your own community?

Episode 4 in our webinar series Building Community & Economic Resilience Through Re-localization continues on Thursday, June 26 from 12-1pm with episode #4: Shifting to Local Energy Ownership. Episode 4 will feature a panel discussion/interview with Dylan Heide from the Town of Mahone Bay, Glen Fillmore from Saint John Energy, Gerald Giroux from the City of Summerside, and Ray Robinson from the Alternative Resources Energy Authority (AREA). Many of these groups also belong to the Maritime Municipal Electric Utilities Alliance (MMEUA). We will begin with an interview/panel discussion, followed by a Q&A. 

This webinar series is by donation - our recommended donation is $10, but any amount is appreciated! A Zoom link and calendar invitation will be sent after you register.  

REGISTER/RSVP HERE:

https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/webinar-4-shifting-to-community-ownership-local-energy