Co-operative model providing range of essential services in Arctic communities
Lives and livelihoods in Canada's Arctic are heavily impacted by a harsh climate and remote location, which also add an extra expense to doing business. In communities in Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Yukon, co-operatives have stepped in to offer services that would otherwise be "not economically viable, hard to access, inconsistent or unavailable," says Duane Wilson, vice-president of Stakeholder Relations, Arctic Co-operatives Limited. "The communities in which member co-ops operate are not only affected by climate and distance, they also face challenges related to their market size."
These communities are typically not large enough to attract a broad array of competitively priced services – like local freight cartage, accounting, legal or technical services, for example, explains Mr. Wilson. "We continue to see value in offering many of these services on a co-operative basis."
Arctic Co-operatives Ltd. currently supports a network of 32 co-ops – independently owned and controlled community businesses, which operate retail facilities, hotels, cable operations, construction, outfitting, arts and crafts production, and property rentals.
"The common saying, 'If you've seen one, you've seen them all,' doesn't apply to co-operatives," says Mr. Wilson. "There is no 'one size fits all,' since co-ops reflect the unique character and needs of their communities. Their differences manifest in their products and services, and the various priorities for investing back into the communities through building infrastructure, supporting education or general cash repayments to members."
Co-operatives are typically responsive to their members' evolving needs, says Mr. Wilson. For example, people who engage in traditional practices of harvesting, and who rely on local food sources for a large share of their dietary intake, depend on reliable machinery and transportation, he says. "Co-ops continue to offer a greater degree of parts, service and training in product lines such as snowmobiles and ATVs. This is not based on standard business metrics, but on what matters to people."
Success is not determined by return on investment only, says Mr. Wilson, who adds that he feels fortunate to be working in a business model where the beneficiaries are community members. "It's people – not shares – that we work for. And the work we do creates a degree of economic self-determination. This gives us lots of personal satisfaction," he says.
This content was produced by Randall Anthony Communications, in partnership with The Globe and Mail's advertising department. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.