Social Resources and Cooperative Resilience: Findings from the Canadian Cooperative Sector During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The international cooperative movement boasts a strong historical legacy of resilience in times of crisis. Early research suggests that this legacy is continued in the cooperative experience during this most recent of global crises, the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines the cooperative experience in the first year of the pandemic in Canada, including its impact and the ways in which cooperatives have responded and adapted to challenging conditions. Regardless of challenges they were facing, cooperatives experienced stability during the crisis. They mobilized solidarity measures to support their members, employees, local communities, and other cooperatives including offering financial assistance, in-kind products and services and adapting operations to support pandemic relief. While cooperatives benefited from government relief programs, membership and community support as well as their networked structures contributed to their resilience.