From the latter years of the 19th century to the present day, the co-operative and credit union movement on Vancouver Island has developed and expanded to meet a large variety of economic and social needs.

On the Island there are currently credit/financial, agricultural, arts, consumer, development, educational, fisheries, food, forestry, health and social care, housing, media, recreation, transportation, and worker co-ops, as well as many more which do not easily fall into any of these categories. And yet, despite the importance of the movement, there has been no comprehensive historical account that addresses the movement as a whole. BCICS is attempting to fill this gap by producing an analysis of the co-operative and credit union movement on the Island.

We will not analyze all co-ops and credit unions either in the past or in the present. Instead, we will review some specific co-operatives and credit unions and situate them within the histories of the Island and the provincial movement. Because a comprehensive study of the co-operative and credit union movement on the Island is lacking, much time has been spent researching for materials and sources, the details of which are outlined in another article on page 10 in this edition of The Anthill.

The best primary sources discovered so far have been in the BC Co-operative Union files, which span the period 1924-1972. While there is a great amount of detail in these records, the information on the movement on the Island is fragmented. There are some individual files on the Island’s co-ops, but little information that directly refers to the state of the movement as a whole. Individual folders on specific co-ops often suffer the same problem, with little personal correspondence relating to their activities. Because of this, we have to draw conclusions from financial and audit reports, the most common kind of records left behind. Such sources unfortunately shed light on only a part of the Island’s co-operative experience. Despite the challenges, a picture of the co-operative movement on Vancouver Island has emerged. As with many regions across the country, the Island’s movement has developed out of groups that particularly identify with the needs of rural areas—for example, in the agricultural and fishing industries. The consumer co-operative movement, still fairly fragile during the first few decades of the twentieth century, nevertheless developed some stores in Nanaimo and Ladysmith.

Throughout the 1930s there was a large growth in fishing co-ops, while the 1940s saw the expansion of credit unions and consumer co-ops. By the 1960s the credit unions possessed hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets, and consumer coops had stabilized in several towns, including Ucluelet, Tofino, Lake Cowichan, and Nanaimo. The latter years of the 1960s also saw co-operative programs developed or attempted in First Nations’ communities. The Cowichan and Tsartlip Bands participated in “development” programs sponsored by the Department of Indian Affairs, the Department of Northern Affairs, and the BC Co-operative Union. Although little information has surfaced thus far, the CO-EVER program (Co-operatives Everywhere), sponsored by the Co-operative Union of Canada, saw the incorporation of a co-operative farm by the Cowichan band in 1968, and a farm development committee by the Tsartlip band in the same year.

From 1970 to the present day, many so called “new co-operatives” have emerged. These years have seen the expansion of the co-operative model into social spheres not traditionally associated with co-operatives on the Island like housing. According to the British Columbia Co-operative Association, there are approximately forty housing co-ops on the Island, mainly located in the Victoria area. Co-ops on the Island have also expanded into environmental, recreational, transportation, media, arts, forestry, and various other ventures since the 1970s. In all, there are about 200 different co-ops on the Island today. The existence of this wide range of co-ops poses many questions.

What does their existence, both past and present, say about the historical and current co-operative movement on the Island? Does the presence of Coast Capital and Vancity, the two largest credit unions in Canada, point to a strong co-operative culture? Does the coming of Mountain Equipment Co-op to Victoria suggest a similar conclusion? Or does the expansion of co-ops on Vancouver Island have more to do with market forces rather than a commitment by local citizens to achieve greater economic and social control over their environment?

While the number of co-operatives and credit unions have undoubtedly grown over the last 100 years, how have the ways in which they have been established changed? Do they hold any value in themselves as institutions concerned about economic and social democracy? To what extent have they been, or are they, connected within a strong sense of “movement”? How do they reflect the members and communities they serve?

BCICS may not be able to answer all these questions as completely as we would like, but we hope to find some of the answers, stimulate debate and further the study of this particular facet of co-operative history.

If you have any information or records about the co-operative movement on Vancouver Island, or know someone who does, we would very much appreciate hearing from you. Please contact us at 250-472-4539, or by e-mail at: rochdale@uvic.ca

Eryk Martin