Co-operatives in Canada, 2021
Released: 2023-11-06
In 2021, there were a total of 5,605 active non-financial co-operatives in Canada, up slightly (+0.8%) from 2020, which saw a 0.6% decrease from 2019 in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, non-profit organizations made up about 63.0% of all co-operatives.
A non-financial co-operative is a corporation that is legally incorporated under specific federal, provincial or territorial co-operative acts, and that is owned by an association of persons seeking to satisfy common needs, such as access to products or services, sale of products or services, or employment.
In 2021, more than half of active non-financial co-operatives operated in three sectors: real estate and rental and leasing industries (33.6%), wholesale and retail trade (13.6%), and public administration and other services (12.5%).
Over two-thirds (68.1%) of non-financial co-operatives were consumer co-operatives. In these co-operatives, members are both owners and consumers of the goods and services sold by the co-operative, for example, a housing co-operative.
After experiencing difficulties during the first year of the pandemic, co-operative sector revenues bounce back in 2021
In 2021, Canadian non-financial co-operatives generated $8.2 billion in surpluses, a 15.0% increase from 2020. Non-financial co-operatives in all provinces and territories (except in Newfoundland and Labrador) posted an increase in surpluses.
From 2020 to 2021, non-financial co-operative sales (up 14.0% to $51.7 billion) and expenses (up 1.1% to $8.8 billion) increased. This is in line with overall trends in the non-financial Canadian industry, which saw a 16.0% increase in sales over the same period.
Chart 1
Counts of active non-financial co-operatives in Canada, by province and for the territories
Co-operatives employ more than 100,000 people in 2021
In 2021, non-financial co-operatives employed approximately 100,755 people, down slightly from 101,230 in 2020. This was driven largely by decreases in employment in wholesale and retail trade.
Total salaries and wages paid by non-financial co-operatives increased 3.1%, up from $2.6 billion in 2020 to $2.7 billion in 2021.
In 2021, Canadian co-operatives held $47.3 billion in assets (+6.4% from 2020) and $22.6 billion in liabilities (+6.9% from 2020). At the same time, the shareholder equity of Canadian co-operatives increased by 6.0%, to $24.7 billion. This reflected trends in the overall Canadian economy, where assets of the non-financial industry increased by 8.5%.
Chart 2
Financial performance variables of non-financial co-operatives
Note to readers
A co-operative is defined as being "active" if it has positive employment, revenue or expenses in a given year.
Estimates are based on domestic financial and employment data as reported to the Canada Revenue Agency.
All non-financial co-operatives included are legally incorporated under specific non-financial co-operative acts; they do not include financial co-operatives, such as credit unions and caisses populaires, which are governed by separate legislation.
Products
The infographic "Co-operatives in Canada, 2021," which is part of the series Statistics Canada — Infographics (11-627-M), is now available.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
- Date modified: