TORONTO--The Ontario Co-operative Association (On Co-op) held the fourth of six regional Co-op Connections conferences. More than 100 participants from 52 co-ops and organizations participated in the event, which filled the ground floor of the Centre for Social Innovation Annex on Bathurst Street.
This was the first-ever full-day regional conference of all types of co-ops in the greater Toronto area, according to On Co-op. In addition to sessions reviewing various co-op sectors in greater Tornonto, participants engaged in intensive discussions about how local co-ops could better support one another and next steps to form an effective ongoing GTA co-op network, On Co-op said.
"We were delighted to see the large turnout and the energetic engagement,"
said Peter Cameron, Co-op Development Manager with On Co-op, who led several sessions. "It was particularly encouraging to see the wide range of ages in the sessions – from students to retirees, and everyone in between. This bodes well for the formation of an ongoing network."
According to On Co-op, greater Toronto is home to nearly 500 co-ops of all types. Approximately half are non-profit housing co-ops. The others include 66 childcare co-ops, 55 credit unions and financial co-ops, and more than 100 others providing products and services related to clean energy, food, the arts, cafes, transportation, car-sharing, green construction, consulting, crafts, clothing, industrial supplies and more.
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