At the beginning of September, a wedding brought Dan up the Ottawa Valley and eventually to Deep River, Ontario, a community roughly halfway between Ottawa and North Bay. Town of Deep River was established in 1940 to house employees of the nearby Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, where researchers developed Canada’s first nuclear reactors and produced medical isotopes, causing the Town of Deep River to adopt the name “Canada’s Nuclear Pioneers”.
While in this town of 4000, it was a great opportunity to finally visit the famed Valley Artisans Coop, a producer co-operative established in 1987 following the success of the local craft fair. The original 12 founding member-artists turned a rented house on Highway 17 into a permanent retail space for their creations, and were soon joined by others. Though the years the location changed but the dream kept growing and in 2002, the decision was made to cap the membership was capped at 30, and keep a waiting list, a true sign of success. Jewelry, ceramics, books, paintings, drawings, food, paper art and much more, it was easy to see why, already in 2013, the Ottawa Citizen listed the co-operative as part of its “Five Worth the Drive: Some special country art galleries”
Nearby, was also a Northern Credit Union Branch. A result of a recent merger, effective 1 January 2025 between Northern Credit Union and Copperfin Credit Union, the combined entity now has 2.5 billion in assets and its more than 300 employees. It is interesting to note that the 88,500 members of this credit union are served by 29 branches located in 25 Ontario communities, with a footprint covering over 1,860 kilometers. This service area stretches from Thunder Bay in the East, to Arnprior in the West, Hornepayne up North and Durham , just South of the Bruce Peninsula.. Northen Credit Union is also a proud sponsor of participants in the Ontario Co-op Association’s Co-operative Young Leaders (CYL) summer camp.
Dan also had the pleasure of coordinating a visit from Spanish agricultural co-operative Cotecnica, which is based in Lleida, about two hours West of Barcelona. Well known for its pet food division, they are also involved in vitamin supplements and veterinary medicines.
During their time in Canada, Sollio Co-operative Group, Canada’s largest agri-food cooperative was showcased by Simon Baillargeon (Vice President, Business Development and Strategic Advisor, Sollio Agriculture) Andréa Renaud (Director of Co-operative Affairs) and Spanish-speaking Emilia Chausse-Cossio (Senior Advisor, Public and Government Affairs). Sollio’s diversified activities resulted in $7,8 Billion in sales last year and its roughly 15 000 employees serve 120 000 member producers and consumers.
Following the Sollio overview and still at their headquarters, Trade agent Jordane Roy-Leblanc from Uniag Co-operative, shared his grain marketing expertise. Uniag has more than 930 agricultural producers located in western Quebec and eastern Ontario, and is involved in animal production, field crops & horticultural production, hardware stores and as stated above, grain marketing. Its 140 employees operate out of 7 business locations (BMR Express, Agrizone and Sonichoix banners), 5 fertilizer centers and a premium supply network.
The group then its way to Ottawa where they stopped at the St.-Albert Cheese Co-operative, in St. Albert Ontario, to discover poutine and then the process of making fresh, delicious and squeaky cheese curds, and other dairy products, through a private tour. This centenary co-op was the recipient of the CMC Small Co-operative of the Year Award in 2019.
The next stop was the Moose Creek Ontario-situated LCM Quesnel Farm, an award-wining Uniag-member. This family members were not only fantastic hosts, it became quickly obvious that service in co-operative Governance roles (Sollio, Uniag, St. Abert Cheese Co-operative) and internationally is a family tradition!
Lastly, in Ottawa itself, Dan presented the Canadian Co-operative Ecosystem and showcased the breadth and diversity of it across our fine country. Of special interest was the application of the co-operative enterprise model outside of agriculture, including funeral co-operatives and our two co-op railways. Canada’s recent commitment to co-operative housing was also of interest, since it is a modest portion of the co-operative landscape in Spain.
We look forward to continuing these collaborations and advancing co-operatives and mutuals across the country.
Want to see Daniel in your city soon to feature your co-operative? Contact him to find out when he’s coming to your province or territory so you can be featured in an upcoming issue of Dan’s Adventures! Email him at dbrunette@canada.coop.