Co-ops could allow more to invest in change, proponents say

As a conference for co-operative associations approaches in Edmonton, both its organizer and an upstart co-op member say the unique business model can help people address needs or invest in their communities in ways that are underappreciated.

"When you come across the co-op model, you probably stumble upon it," Corinne Rempel, the executive director of the Alberta Community & Co-operative Association, told Taproot. "We just need to do a better job of getting people informed about it."

Rempel's association hopes to do just that at the Alberta Co-operative Conference, which runs at the Matrix Hotel from Nov. 4 to 6. One notable presenter is Clark Banack, the director of the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities at the University of Alberta's Augustana campus, who will speak on Nov. 5. Rempel also said Premier Danielle Smith is confirmed to attend, again, for a reception for elected officials the same day. The conference also includes a session dedicated to energizing co-op development. "It's focusing on new co-ops and, generally, the under-35 people who have started co-ops," Rempel said.

Though the new co-ops featured were not confirmed by press time, Rempel said most are from the Edmonton area.

Rempel said she feels some young people are pre-disposed to connect with co-ops. "It's such a unique opportunity for a generation of people who really like collaborating and working together with the people that (are) important to them, as opposed to just going off and working in a more corporate setting," she said. "I'm not saying that everybody's like that, but I think the co-op model really provides that opportunity."

Co-operatives in Alberta are businesses started by multiple people who hope to use services or buy goods as a group. Co-ops provide members an equal say in how the business is run and a share of its profits. They must follow provincial rules for co-operatives. Internationally, co-ops generally follow seven principles, including an edict that they act upon concern for community.

The profit-sharing and governance elements differentiate co-ops from other business models. Co-ops within the Alberta Federation of Rural Electrification Associations and the Federation of Alberta Gas Co-ops, for example, have a long history of owning utility access in the province.

Co-ops are popping up in Edmonton. The real estate-focused Homestead Investment Cooperative that launched this year is one example of a group using collective interests to invest in a goal — in this case, to own and nurture downtown real estate.

Don Iveson, a co-founder of Homestead Investment Cooperative and the past mayor of Edmonton, told Taproot the model opens new possibilities to new people. "An $8 million building is not something me and even 25 of my friends could get together and buy in our wildest dreams," Iveson said. "But with 125 of our friends — some in for $10,000, some in for $100,000 — you can raise enough money to do it, and that's very empowering."

Iveson co-founded the co-op with RedBrick Group of Companies president Tegan Martin-Drysdale, who brought the germ of an idea after he left city politics in 2021 and was using an office at Homestead Coworking. Their idea is to start with downtown Edmonton real estate acquisitions by a group that's both financially and holistically invested in downtown and see where things go next. Iveson said he expects the investment co-operative to purchase the Alberta Block, where both Homestead entities operate, by as soon as the end of 2024.

Iveson wears many hats, including as executive advisor for climate investing and community resilience for Co-operators. That company is "owned by 46 co-operatives and credit unions," he said. His role there made him realize he's been involved in co-ops since he was three, when his membership at what's now called Servus Credit Union was how he saved up for a Hot Wheels set.

Iveson sees co-ops as a method for community interventions. "You can apply the co-op model to potentially solve a variety of different community needs in the urban context, as well as the rural context," he said. "The sort of self-propelled, self-initiated part of it that I've come to appreciate is the origin story of a lot of historic co-op activity in Canada: Rural electrification co-ops that strung up wires to farms because the government either wouldn't or couldn't, for whatever reason. People took it amongst themselves."

Rempel said between credit unions and what's more formally defined as a co-op, about two million Albertans are part of the co-op system. She said she sees potential for investment co-ops to propel local priorities forward, like how one in Water Valley, a community roughly 300 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, assembled one to save a hardware store that's the "heart of that community."

The Alberta Community & Co-operative Association wants to help fledgling investment co-operatives. It has launched the Community Capital Solutions Co-operative, a resource for investment co-ops that provides guidance and leverages the association's relationship with government funders. (The Community Capital Solutions Co-operative itself received funds from Prairies Economic Development Canada in 2023.)

"Every time an investment co-op forms, you have this surge of excitement and energy, but it kind of peters off because they're not getting the supports that they're needing," Rempel said.

After the November conference, Rempel and her association will next consider a national co-op awareness campaign that she's still dreaming up. She's taking inspiration from the viral Movember fundraising campaign and the pre-viral Got Milk? ad sensation to drum up co-op interest, especially with young people.

Right now, though, registration is open for the Alberta Co-operative Conference. Iveson said he plans to attend, and that Homestead Investment Cooperative is working to become a member of the host association. Homestead is also soliciting public investors now that it has closed its friends and family investment round.