Canadian and French worker cooperatives movement sign an agreement on business transfers to employees

10 December 2015

The Canadian Worker Cooperatives Federation (CWCF) and the French confederation of cooperatives and participatory societies (CG Scop) have recently signed the first economic agreement between Europe and the American continent concerning the sharing of knowledge and expertise in the world of worker cooperatives. The aim of the agreement is to exchange best practices and expertise on how to accompany business transfers to employees in the cooperative form.

In fact, according to CWCF, France is quite knowledgeable on that topic: there have been 224 transfers and buyouts between 2008-2014, with a very high survival rate within the first 5 years, superior to the entire number of French enterprises. Moreover Canada and Quebec are no stranger to the idea of business transfers either, one of the most successful one being the Quebec Ambulance Cooperative, says CWCF.

Pierre Charette, the president of the Quebec Worker cooperative network one of the main beneficiaries of this agreement has declared that “this agreement with France will allow [Canada] to extend [its] expertise by sharing practical methods and tools”. And along the same lines Patrick Lenancker, president of CG Scop, underlined that “[CG Scop] is certain that this transatlantic partnership will be collectively enriching”.