Canada's Social Economy: Co-operatives, Non-profits, and Other Community Enterprises

L.M. Read is author of The Intelligent Citizens Guide to the Postal
Problem.

Jack Quarter defines the “social economy” as the social system that
provides goods and services to Canadians, but that excludes the
government sector and the profit-oriented part of the private sector.
The social economy thus constitutes a third (although by no means
insignificant) economy, one that includes various types of cooperative
enterprises and nonprofit organizations.

Social organizations may be distinguished by such characteristics as an
emphasis on social objectives, a degree of independence from government,
an important role for volunteering money and labor, and a preference for
democratic control. Quarter successfully conveys the collective weight
and importance of these organizations in Canadian life. And this pioneer
work succeeds in fulfilling the author’s primary objective, “to
create greater awareness of the social economy and the potential it
contains in Canada’s future.”