BCICS was recently commissioned by the Ontario Cooperative Association to prepare a survey of ten universities in Canada to establish what they were teaching about co-operative business management and philosophy in their courses. Realizing that there had not been a survey on teaching about co-operatives since 1967, BCICS approached the Co-operative Secretariat for further funding to create a national survey. The ten university survey is complete and now the national survey nears completion. The comprehensive results of the national survey will be complied into the publication Study Co-ops in Canada/Étude des Coopératives au Canada.

The survey was conducted by BCICS Associates Dr. Cheryl Lans of the University of Victoria and Laval University graduate student Sana Attig with the assistance of Professor Klaus Fischer of Laval University and Ian MacPherson of BCICS. It was designed to be comparable to the one used in the 1967 study by George Davidovic, entitled University Teaching of Cooperation in Various Countries, published by The Co-operative Union of Canada, Ottawa.

A glance at the survey results show, the Universities of Guelph, Manitoba, British Columbia and Saskatchewan taught co-operative business management in 1967 and continue to do so today. This year in Canada at the Graduate level:

•Saint Mary’s University offers a Masters of Management in Co-operatives and Credit Unions.

•The University of Saskatchewan teaches two MBA courses, one of which focuses exclusively on co-operatives. There is also an MBA course that deals with non-profits and some types of co-operatives.

•The MSc in Capacity Building and Extension offered by Guelph University includes a course on co-operative business management.

•Three courses in the Masters of Applied Environmental Studies, Local Economic Development Program (MAES) at the University of Waterloo include consideration of co-operatives.

•Co-ops are discussed in the MBA in Community Economic Development program offered by Cape Breton University.

•The Schulich School of Business offers Canada’s only MBA in Non-profit Management and Leadership. Five other courses include aspects of co-operative business and philosophy.

Survey Conclusions

1. The main difference found between the 1967 report and this one is that co-operative business management is more likely to be taught in a variety of faculties including Environmental Studies. There also seems to be more emphasis on co-op business management and less on co-operative philosophy. This may reflect the trend to have more applied courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels within university than there was in 1967.

2. Only a very small percentage (less than one per cent!) of the students enrolled in the universities surveyed have the opportunity to seriously study co-operative organisations and co-operative.

3. There are strong critical mass of researchers/teachers at the University of Saskatchewan. The recent creation of another centre at St. Mary’s University is to be welcomed, particularly because of its strong commitment to management training.

4. There is a need for more teaching resources on cooperatives and for more opportunities for young people to gain employment in co-operatives either on a short-term basis or in pursuing careers.

5. There are more people interested in researching and teaching about co-operatives and co-operative thought.

For more information about this survey, or to order a copy of the publication, Study Co-ops in Canada/Étude des Coopératives au Canada, please contact rochdale@uvic.ca.

Cheryl Lans