In Port Rexton, Newfoundland, the beloved Two Whales Coffee Shop is more than just a place to grab something to eat and drink. Founded by Sue Asquith and David Ellis in 2009, this community hub in the town of 300, has always been a sustainable social enterprise caring for its environmental footprint, training young people to work in the booming seasonal tourism industry, and hosting all kinds of local events.

With a vegetarian menu and magnificent garden, all was well until Sue and David decided that after a decade in business, it was time to retire. But they didn’t want their operation to be sold to buyers who didn’t embrace their mission and intention.

Eventually, a team of five women who had worked at the cafe for years and were committed to the same values as Sue and David, stepped up to carry on the Two Whales legacy as worker owners of the Table 8 Co-operative. 

Support from the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Co-ops and the Social Enterprise Through Acquisition program was invaluable as the transition from small business to co-operative took place. 

Two Whales opened under new ownership in May 2025.

Table 8 Co-operative members (from left to right) are Rebecca Hiscock, Olivia White, Jill White, Penny Vivian-Penney and Carrie Hookey. They are committed to growing this community asset and carrying on its fine traditions.

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Once upon at time in Saskatoon, there were five very accomplished hairstylists who had been collaborating for years at a local hair salon. But they were restless and wanted to create a new path where they had more autonomy and agency.

So with the help of Co-operatives First, the team created an employment co-operative where everyone has equal value, equal say and shared responsibility. Then after a long search to find just the right space, Stardust Studio opened in late August 2025.

From the co-op’s website, their mission is clear:

“At Stardust Studio Cooperative, we’re all about collaboration and inclusivity. We’re not your typical salon — we operate on a unique cooperative business model, which means our talented team of five stylists share ownership and decision-making, creating an environment where everyone’s voice is heard and valued.”

This is an inspiring story of how co-ops can offer a different way of doing business, with a focus on shared values and voices. Stardust is already giving back to the local community. Have a listen.

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The only province in Canada without a dedicated glass recycling program is Newfoundland and Labrador. Household glass that is not re-used goes to the landfill creating glass waste, a huge environmental challenge.

Enter the NewfoundSand Glass Recycling Co-operative created by community members who know there’s a valuable resource in every bottle and jar that can be recycled into reusable sand, thereby reducing waste and promoting sustainability.

The co-op holds collection events where members can bring clean glass jars and bottles and feed them into a special machine that crushes the glass into sand. The processed sand can be used by members for building, landscaping, gardening, construction, arts and crafts, beach volleyball courts and more!

At its core, this co-op is about more than just glass. It’s about education, community, and co-operative values. It’s showing that recycling can truly create new products and demonstrating how co-operatives can succeed where profit-driven models fall short.

Dave Saunders, founding member and board president, says the goal is to scale up glass recycling services beyond the St. John’s and Mount Pearl region to the Avalon Peninsula, then across the province. It’s not an easy journey, but the hope is that through greater awareness and the determination of more than 150 members, the co-op will succeed while protecting the environment, creating good jobs and strengthening local economies.

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The British Columbia Co-operative Association calls The Cleaning Co-op “a fresh alternative offering ethical and professional cleaning services.”

It also describes The Vancouver Empowerment Cleaning Co-op (the Association) as a worker co-op that aims:

Hayley Postlethwaite is one of the co-op’s founders along with Paulina Mendoza and Lulu Hernandez. She shares how the three of them collaborated to bring their vision to life and who provided support along the way. Have a listen.

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Improving awareness about the relevance of co-operative model with the general public, youth and government is the most important issue for co-ops in the annual survey by The Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives. And the job of raising awareness is up to the co-ops themselves and their provincial and national associations.

Corinne Remple, Executive Director of the Alberta Community Co-op Association, decided that the story of co-ops needed to be told differently, especially to Gen Z and Millennials.

So she collaborated with provincial and national partners to help launch Business NOT as Usual, a campaign that highlights how co-ops are an alternative way of doing business built on shared ownership, sustainability, collective impact and driven by values.

We discuss her new approach to raising awareness of the sector in Part 1 of this show

In Part 2, we speak with Kristen Murray, co-op developer with the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Co-ops (NLFC) about how she found her way to co-op sector as a young person just starting out and looking for a way to make a difference in this world. NLFC is a partner in Business NOT As Usual and Kristen spoke at the kickoff event during Co-op Week in 2025.

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The Monashee Community Co-operative is a market located in Lumby, B.C. It began in 2013 when some local residents collaborated to organize bulk buying of organic foods at a lower price than nearby Vernon.

Since then, it’s grown to become a vital hub for folks to purchase local, safe, organic, vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO food and an important place for local growers to market their products.

As a Community Service Co-op, Monashee returns all profits to the Co-op for future growth and works to educate, support and nourish the local economy.

The co-op has finally moved to a new, larger location with much effort by members, volunteers and local residents.

Board President Chris Bauman shares more about this valued, grassroots community hub, Have a listen.

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In 2009, co-operative scholar and educator Ian MacPherson urged researchers to continue studying and learning from the Northern Co-operative experience.

Now, the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives (CCSC) is heeding MacPherson’s advice with a series of projects it hopes will be beneficial to northern communities and co-ops across the country.

This new research is being launched as the North has become a strategic focus for Canada’s sovereignty and growth. 

At the same time, residents continue to face threats to their survival and traditional ways of life due to food insecurity, climate change and inadequate supply chains.

Maybe that’s why co-ops and the co-operative principles are so fully embraced and community engagement is so strong.

Natalie Kallio of CCSC shares what we can continue to learn from these unique co-ops in the North. Her paper in The Northern Review is insightful reading.

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This co-op has a long and rich history in the South Cariboo region of British Columbia and was incorporated in 2006 to protect the agricultural and ecological integrity of a vital lakeshore acreage. Its goal has been to develop local farming capacity and agricultural resources, together with cultivating an ethical and high quality organic food supply.

The co-op has close ties to the local community through its Bird and Botany walk, Family Farm Day, the South Cariboo Farmers Market and the new Forest Floor Project providing residents of all ages the chance to connect with the natural environment and participate in sustainable farming and environmental stewardship. A new root cellar is in the works with thanks to the United Way of BC.

Rob Diether, founding member and board chair, shares the story of this unique co-op and the outlawed “Cariboo potato.” Have a listen.

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This very new and passionate co-op is comprised of a small group of African immigrants who share a love of agriculture and working the land as their ancestors have for generations. Despite arriving in BC’s urban Lower Mainland and all having full-time work, they found their way to each other and created the African-Canadian Agricultural Producers Co-operative to further their dream of growing healthy, sustainable, traditional crops of their homelands, sharing ancestral knowledge and building community.

With assistance from Solid State Industries and The Young Agrarian Society, the co-op found several acres to tend in Port Kells and began readying the soil to produce a bumper crop of strawberries and garlic. Local restaurants welcomed this bounty and the co-operators feel buoyed by their initial success!

Have a listen as co-op member Edgar Ondati shares this great story of relationships, resilience and new beginnings.

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When the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Co-operatives created the Co-op Incubator Program in 2024, a group of residents from Pouch Cove got on board with a specific idea in mind; to create a co-operative that would support area seniors to age well at home, overcome loneliness and isolation and build a sense of community.

Now, almost a year later the Killick Coast North Seniors Co-operative is welcoming the public and members to a variety of social programs, exercise opportunities and offering services such as home repairs, transportation, pet care, friendly visits and computer support.

From the Co-op’s Value Statement:” We strive to change the paradigm of aging, through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled social enterprise valuing self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity.”

In this episode we speak with some of the founders of this very special community service co-op. Have a listen.

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