Alberta CED News
Grassroots Grants Celebrate Soul of the City
There are thousands of stories just waiting to be told in every community. The Soul of the City Neighbour Grants program is seeking to bring many of the untold stories to life, and to celebrate people that are putting into action their ideas to improve, enhance or revitalize their community. Five initiatives will be chosen to receive a $5,000 grant each to realize "neighbourly dreams." These initiatives will also be featured in a documentary and at a city celebration in November. The application process for the Soul of the City Neighbour grants closes March 31.
Highlights from a Co-operative Year
There was no shortage of news stories for Alberta's co-operative community 2013, so the Alberta Community and Co-operative Association has compiled a list of highlights to help you recap the past co-op year. The biggest stories, according to ACCA's recent article, include the 2013 Gathering of Co-operatives and the relief efforts put forth in the wake of this summer’s flooding. These two events highlight the co-operative community's resilience in the face of adversity, but also its ability to celebrate successes and recognize its leaders. Deron Hamel writes, "While the Gathering presented opportunities to tell celebratory stories, the flooding that struck southern and central Alberta in June brought us stories of collaboration and helping others."
Local Spa Good for Body & Community
A trip to the spa is great for your body. Leela Eco Spa is also demonstrating that with the right vision and objectives, a spa can also be great for local economies and communities. Leela Eco Spa's community building efforts recently earned them a Community Economy Leader Award. The Spa has demonstrated its commitment to the community by providing free yoga classes in the park, supporting local fundraising efforts, and by planting fruit-bearing trees for every 100 massages and 150 yoga drop-ins. As part of their award, Leela Spa will receive a bursary to participate in the CED Certificate Program being hosted by Thrive and First Calgary Financial in 2014.
Fringe Financial in Calgary
In many inner-city neighbourhoods, it often appears as though quick cash outlets are everywhere. As people reel from holiday spending, the accessibility and apparent ease of these financial services may appear reasonable. Dig a bit deeper, though, and you discover astronomical costs and predatory loan practices that often affect those that are most financially vulnerable. Carolyn Davis, a staff member at Momentum (a CCEDNet member), wrote a blog post about the dangers of cash stores, in which she argues that communities should work together to increase financial literacy and "reduce demand for fringe lenders, return more money to the pockets of hard-working people, and support people’s journey toward a more sustainable livelihood."
Unleash Your Local Capital: Learn from Alberta Communities
What's happening in your community? Are there needs for local investment? Are there new businesses needed, or existing ones looking to expand? If so, you should tune into the Unleashing Local Capital webinar taking place on Jan. 22 from 12-1pm. Unleashing Local Capital is an innovative model for local residents within your community to support your own local community through investing in your own Opportunity Development Co-op. Through your investment, you can be actively engaged in the success of your community and the growth of your investment, using your own cash savings or your RRSPs. The webinar will also feature successful case studies from across Alberta.
Next in CCEDNet's Webinar Series
Our 2014 webinar series is launching 3 new webinars; make sure you're registered today! The first session, on January 21st, is
Looking Back & Looking Forward, and will explore the reflections and insights of 3 pillars of Canada's CED sector who are entering retirement - Lynne Markell, David LePage, and Walter Hossli. On February 11th,
Community Supports for Immigrant Entrepreneurship will draw on lessons from the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers and the Montréal Community Loan Association in considering how to improve immigrant settlement and integration in Canada. Finally, on April 23rd, former Ontario MLA Tony Martin will share findings from his research into the question
Can CED Catalyze a National Poverty Reduction Strategy?
CED Wire Updates
The Living Wage: An Idea Whose Time Has Come: Darcy Penner writes about the rising North American campaign for living wage laws | Read more- Capturing the Imagination of Future Social Entrepreneurs: Sherman Kreiner explores the potential of anchor institution led development in addressing challenges to enterprise development | Read more
- The Year that Twilight Enveloped the World - A Christmas Contemplation: William Pardy's reflects thoughtfully on a year of twilight | Read more
- Notes from the Road: Brendan's CED Adventure in Saskatoon: Brendan Reimer shares his notes from the road after visiting CCEDNet members in Saskatoon | Read more
Improve Your Impact Measurement with CanadaMeasures and CCEDNet
If you missed the recent webinar introducing the
CanadaMeasures Initiative (CMI) and their platform for measuring your Social Return on Investment, don't fret. You can still learn about this accessible system and how it combines educational tools and impact measurement software designed for grassroots organizations. Click on the link below to find out more about CMI by watching the recording from the free webinar on January 10 and accessing other resources.
National CED News
Labour Market Agreements and the Canada Jobs Grant: Implications for CED
A new resource guide from the Columbia Institute, LOCO BC, and ISIS Research Centre at the UBC Sauder School of Business, offers innovative tools for economic development.
Buying Local: Tools for Forward Thinking Institutions details specific policies and practices for economic development through local purchasing.
Consultation on the Canada Business Corporations Act
Industry Canada has launched a 90-day consultation on the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA). Importantly, one of the items under consideration is the incorporation of hybrid enterprises, titled Socially Responsible Enterprises (SREs), which are broadly defined as entities who use a “commercial business model to encourage social change.” Submissions are being accepted until March 11, 2014.
Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada to Launch in April
Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada (CMC), Canada's new national association representing co-operative and mutual enterprises, will officially launch its operations on April 1, 2014. This new bilingual organization is a result of years of discussion between the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) and the Conseil canadien de la coopération et de la mutualité (CCCM) as to how to bring together Canada's English and French-speaking co-operators. CCCM ended its program activities at the end of 2013 but CCA will continue to exist to carry out international co-operative development programming.
CED Tool: Revitalizing Rural Economies: A Guide for Practitioners
Designed as a practical guide,
Revitalizing Rural Economies serves as a primer to CED, while also allowing those familiar with the field to delve deeper. This book provides ideas and resources to foster the long-term resilience of rural regions at a time when rural communities in Canada are facing a new reality where traditional economic bases such as agriculture, forestry, and manufacturing have eroded.
A Little Bird Told Us: Top Tweets of the Month
Here is a brief sampling of some of our most popular tweets from the past 30 days.
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