The federal government is investing $1 million to help fund an unprecedented research project to investigate the benefits that Canadian communities receive from co-operatives.John Anderson, director of government affairs and public policy for the Canadian Co-operative Association, said it will be the largest research project on the co-operative movement ever undertaken outside Quebec.He will oversee the five year project that in part will co-ordinate research already being done in Halifax, Ottawa, Saskatoon and Victoria.“There is work going on but the research projects in different places often are unconnected,” he said.“The overall goal is to measure the impact of co-operatives in the economy and in communities.“We want to be able to go to governments and demonstrate the benefits of using the co-op model for delivering the services they deliver.”Anderson said research on the impact of agricultural co-operatives on their communities will be a key part of the research, as well as the credit union model of financing.“One thing we will be looking at is the fact that agricultural co-operatives in other countries and in Quebec have better connections to federations or alliances among themselves,” he said.“Why is that and are there benefits from these federations?”The funding was announced in May by federal minister of state for science and technology Gary Goodyear.The grant will be delivered through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.One benefit could be a better sense of best practices among co-operatives in their community connections, the economic impact and ability to attract younger members, he said.“I certainly see this as a way to examine co-op performance standards across the country and it could be a way for co-ops to realize areas where they could improve,” said Anderson.One of the expectations for the project is that it will help the federal government improve its annual survey of the co-operative sector in Canada.
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