- Multi-sector portrait of 800 Montreal cooperatives
- Launch of unified communications campaign (www.jecoop.com)
MONTREAL, March 15, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ -
| Attachment: | All media documents are available, including a portrait of cooperation in the world of Montreal's co-ops, on the ftp site below. As well, a photograph will be available as of 3 p.m. |
| Media Access: | ftp://ftp.national.ca/medias/CQCM/15032012/ Username: presse Password: media |
As part of the International Year of Cooperatives, the leading players in Montreal's cooperative community came together today to highlight their strengths of their model. Indeed, 38% of the revenues by Quebec's non-financial cooperatives are generated by Montreal's co-ops. In addition, nearly half of the housing co-ops, recognized as the largest owner of rental units in Quebec and one of main vectors of the integration for cultural communities, are located in the Montreal region.
"According to an International Labour Organization study published in 2009, co-op companies better withstood the financial crisis in 2008," said Monique Léroux, president and CEO of Mouvement Desjardins and newly elected chair of the Conseil québécois de la coopération et de la mutualité. "Because it is inclusive and democratic, the co-op formula definitely represents a solution for establishing conditions for greater prosperity and supporting diversified economic development in Montreal," she added
Despite the economic turbulence from 1999 to 2009, the number of jobs in non-financial cooperatives has grown by 37.3%—from 32,200 to 44,198—compared to 15.7% in the Quebec economy. Job growth has been greater in Quebec's non-financial cooperatives than in the overall economy. Quebec's leading employer, Desjardins, employs 3,000 people on the Island of Montreal; the Coop Fédérée, the province's fifth largest employer, has its head office in the Montreal area, as does Agropur, Canada's largest cooperative dairy processor.
The cooperative formula also offers a solution to the succession problem facing numerous Quebec small and mid-sized businesses. "It's a way of maintaining the province's entrepreneurial heritage, since these owners have the option of turning to their employees and workers' cooperatives," explained Hélène Simard, president and general director of the Conseil québécois de la coopération et de la mutualité.
There are some 800 cooperatives in the Montreal area, particularly in the arts and culture, technical and professional services, savings, insurance, food, agriculture and retail sectors. They have an impact on every aspect of our lives—social, economic and educational.
"Cooperatives offer possibilities to individuals and their community to own democratic companies—and this in turn benefits the communities themselves," says Pierre-Alain Cotnoir, president of the Coopérative de développement régional de Montréal-Laval.
Another feature of the cooperative model is that the survival rate for cooperatives is 62% after five years and 35% after 10 years, compared to 44.3% and 19.5% respectively in the private sector. For a metropolitan region focused on economic prosperity, this lifespan is thus an important indicator of the vitality of co-op companies and their ability to retain employees.
A unified communications campaign
Since the co-op movement deserves to be better known in Montreal, its leaders have decided to follow the UN's lead to raise the visibility of co-ops, as the world organization hopes to do by declaring 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives.
This was the context in which the Table de concertation pour le développement coopératif et mutualiste de Montréal was created a year ago, with the idea of creating a joint visibility platform for the entire co-op movement.
To meet this objective, the first integrated communications campaign was launched to day. It brings together the leading players in the Montreal co-op community under the unifying slogan "Je coop." The campaign, with creatives designed by Parallèle Gestion de marques, uses a variety of channels, such as billboards, the Web and social media as well as television, and a group of well-known spokespeople—Chantal Petitclerc, Mes Aïeux, Monique Leroux, Jacques L'Heureux, Stéphane Crête and filmmakers Louis Bélanger and Andrée-Line Beauparlant—all of whom voice their personal support for cooperative values.
About the CDR de Montréal-Laval
The Coopérative de développement régional de Montréal-Laval, an association of more than 150 cooperatives and partners, was created in 1986. Its mandate is to encourage the emergence and development of cooperatives in the Montreal-Laval region, raise the profile of the co-op movement and foster cooperation among the various cooperatives and partners.
About the CQCM
The Conseil québécois de la coopération et de la mutualité represents all of the sectorial and regional cooperative organizations in Quebec. Its membership includes more than 3,300 cooperatives and mutual organizations, which generate some 92,000 jobs. With more than $173 billion in assets, these companies play a positive role in Quebec's social and economic development.
Source:
Francyne Morin
Communications advisor
Conseil québécois de la coopération et de la mutualité
Information:
Sylvie Robitaille
NATIONAL Public Relations
514-843-2354
Cell.: 514-220-4979
Kamila Karwowski
NATIONAL Public Relations
514-843-2384
Cell.: 514-910-1328
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