On Co-op Announces Regional Conferences in March
On Co-op is hosting a series of three regional conferences in March, under the banner of
"Co-op Connections", to provide professional development and networking opportunities while strengthening and expanding the growth of regional co-op clusters. The conferences will take place in
Ottawa on March 18,
Sudbury on March 20 and
London on March 27 and are co-hosted by local co-ops, credit unions and clusters. Interested in hosting a conference in your region? Contact Peter Cameron (
pcameron@ontario.coop) or Audrey Aczel (
aaczel@ontario.coop) for more information.
Rural Economic Summit of Ontario
The Rural Economic Summit, held from
April 30th to May 2nd, will bring together well over 200 delegates to tackle key sensitive economic themes for rural communities. These themes include rural economic development, promising economic sectors, agri-food industry challenges, the leadership of women entrepreneurs, international business development, the added value of social enterprises, networking and added value partnerships, and entrepreneurial succession planning initiatives. CCEDNet member Groupe Convexe is one of the planning partners in this exciting event, while other CCEDNet members like the Tamarack Institute and the Canadian Centre for Community Renewal will be engaged as speakers.
Don't miss the early bird registration deadline of March 15th!Credit Unions Ontario Launches Website for New Campaign
www.cooperativebanking.ca encourages consumers to bank with "a higher purpose" and highlights the advantages credit unions have over other financial institutions. The television ads can be seen on YouTube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sGUZp6doqc and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt9oLraSGUg.
Canadian CED
Network News
What is CED? A YouTube response
CCEDNet’s new video on community economic development uses some of the marvellous photos submitted in last fall’s
'What is CED' photo contest to illustrate our diverse and dynamic movement in just over two minutes.
Watch it today! >>! Next in CCEDNet's Webinar Series
On February 11th,
Community Supports for Immigrant Entrepreneurship drew 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. Thought you missed it? Well, you can access the recording of this session and others, as well as find out about upcoming webinars, on our website.
Improve Your Impact Measurement with CanadaMeasures and CCEDNet
Back through popular demand, we will be holding another learning webinar on the
CanadaMeasures Initiative (CMI) and their platform for measuring your Social Return on Investment. Register today to earn about this accessible system and how it combines educational tools and impact measurement software designed for grassroots organizations.
CED Wire Updates
Community Development Manitoba-style: CCPA-Manitoba Director, Molly McCracken writes about how Manitoba became the source for inspiration and cutting edge policy | Read more >>- Investing in the Environment: Assiniboine Credit Union Wins Environmental Award: Katie Schewe shares the environmental achievements that lead to ACU's Anne Lindsey Award | Read more >>
- CCEDNet International Activities in 2013: An Important Year: Yvon Poirier highlights the international commitments of CCEDNet | Read more >>
- Become a CED Investor: A Manitoba Guide to Community Investment Opportunities: Ryan O'Connor explores tools for investing in people & communities | Read more >>
National CED News
Have Your Say on the Social Solidarity Recommendations
The Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS) is inviting your organization to contribute to the participatory construction of the
Recommendations by Social Solidarity Economy to the Millennium Development Goals post-2015. The Consultation is public and open until March 28. After the current public consultation, RIPESS will release the final document that will incorporate feedback received. It will then be possible for organizations and networks to endorse it, and have their names added to the recommendations. These will then be formally presented to the United Nations.Canadian Federal Budget CED Highlights
The Road to Balance: Creating Jobs and Opportunities, the Federal government's 2014 budget, was released earlier this month. This year, CCEDNet submitted two recommendations to the Federal government's pre-budget consultations related to social procurement, and support for Canadian social enterprises and co-ops. Neither of these submissions is addressed in
The Road to Balance, but several budget items will have impacts on CED organizations across the country. Follow the link below to read these highlights.
Alternative Federal Budget 2014
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released their annual Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) earlier this month. The budget includes many recommendations for CED investments, including: a neighbourhood revitalization program; affordable housing; and the reduction of income inequality. This year’s AFB delivers a plan that would significantly reduce poverty, strengthen the economy, lower unemployment to 5.4% and still balance the budget by 2016-17. It also raises the bar on transparency by providing an analysis of the distributional and poverty impacts of its tax measures—a first for any budget.
CED Tool: Next Generation Evaluation
As the community development sector continues to innovate, it will be ever more important for evaluation to evolve and grow in ways that respond to the increasingly complex, inter-connected, and rapidly changing world in which these initiatives live. This Learning Brief draws from literature and research, as well as more than a dozen interviews with foundation leaders, evaluation practitioners, and social sector thought leaders, with the intention of starting the conversation in the field around Next Generation Evaluation characteristics and approaches.
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.
Click hereto follow us on Twitter.
Social Enterprise Toronto (SET) held its inaugural event on January 30th, bringing together a full house, underscoring the growing social enterprise movement in the city and the province at large. The conference included presentations by Helen Burstyn, special advisor with Ontario's Office for Social Enterprise, and a 
ImpactOntario is a landmark conference that will bring world-changing Ontario ventures together with world-leading investors and intermediaries on March 18. Designed to support deal flow and impact-investing opportunities through pitch sessions, one-on-one meetings and plenary panels, the event will also spotlight ventures across a variety of sectors, including health and wellness, sustainability, education and technology, and inclusion. Headlining ImpactOntario will be Abigail Noble, head of impact investing for the World Economic Forum and author of the recent report “From the Margins to the Mainstream.” Other speakers include: Kevin Jones, co-founder and convener of Social Capital Markets; John Horwood, director of wealth management at Richardson GMP; and Eric Hoskins, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment.
