Canada case study : Co-construction of public policy for the social economy

The social and solidarity economy in Canada has a long and rich history of practice, although the conceptualization of these activities and the language used to describe them has varied and continues to evolve. The paper presents some of the most notable illustrations of collaborative processes between civil society actors and all three levels of government in the development and implementation of supportive public policies. In Quebec, these include a provincial Summit that represented a breakthrough in civil society's role in public debate; a government partnership for the administration of co-operative development activities; a provincial conference that laid the groundwork for the co-construction of a government action plan to support the social economy; and a municipal partnership to support the social economy by the City of Montréal. In the rest of Canada, a federal initiative to enhance access to capital, training and research as well as a vehicle for co-construction; a provincial program to create local investment funds; a provincial tax credit to support co-operative development, and various place-based programs and initiatives are profiled.