Excellent green jobs, supply chains that work for local producers, and succession planning solutions for owners and communities, are the economic impacts The Alberta Community & Co-operative Association (ACCA) is working towards as part of their new Local Investment Solutions (LIS) initiative, thanks to a Federal investment through PrairiesCan of more than $1.1 million.

In Our Hands (IOH) is an entrepreneurship program which helps newcomers to Canada form co-operative businesses with other like-minded newcomers.

Our campaign to raise the awareness of co operatives in Alberta is continuing to be successful. We held the first MLA reception in over two years on April 19 at the Matrix Hotel in Edmonton, and it was a great success with over seventy members and MLAs in attendance! Both UCP and NDP representatives were at the event, showing that co-operatives are neither left nor right, but up.

Members - today is a great day for co-operatives in Canada! At the very forefront of the Federal Budget is a $500 million dollar allotment towards co-operative housing. This is the largest investment for co-operative housing in over thirty years, and it is estimated that 6,000 units will be constructed with this fund.