1. The Role of Co-operatives in Ontario’s Social Economy
May 1, 2008
David Lasby
Senior Research Associate

2. Information Sources
2003 National Survey of Nonprofits and Voluntary Organizations (Ontario data)
Financial data adjusted for inflation
2007 survey of Ontario co-operatives conducted by Ontario Co-operative Association

3. Background - NSNVO Conducted during Fall, 2003
Conducted by Statistics Canada, as a telephone survey
Surveyed approximately 13,000 organizations nationally
2,250 from Ontario
Sample frame constructed from a number of sources:
Business Registry
Provincial and Federal registrars
Canada Revenue Agency filings

4. Background - Co-ops Survey
Conducted during summer 2007
Attempted contact with all known Ontario co-operatives
Approximately 600 responses
Conducted by ON Co-op using a variety of modes:
Online
Telephone
Paper
Sample frame based on ON Co-op’s list of co-operatives and supplemented by extensive searches

5. The Contributions of Cooperatives to the Social Economy in Ontario
Relatively small in number
Approximately 1,300 co-operatives in Ontario vs. 45,000 nonprofits or about 3% of total number of organizations
Significant contribution to revenues
$4.6 billion vs. $51.8 for nonprofits or about 8% of total revenues for social economy
Relatively small paid staff contribution
15,000 vs. 959,000 for nonprofits or about 2% of social economy employment
Relatively small volunteer contribution
Volunteer complement of 49,000 vs. 7.8 million for nonprofits
I think the salient point is that co-operatives tend to punch above their weight in a lot of ways that are important to our understanding of the community nonprofit sector. Although they add just around 3% to the count of organizations, in terms of revenues, they play a disproportionate role.

6. The Number of Organizations

7. Co-ops By Organization Type

8. Nonprofits and Co-ops by Organization Type
Child care
Housing
Credit Unions
Community Dev’t
Agricultural
Retail
Transportation

9. Relative Revenues of Nonprofits and Co-ops
Total revenues for Nonprofits: $51.8 billion
Total revenues for Co-ops:$4.6 billion
Total sectoral revenues: $56.4 billion

10. Co-ops by Size of Annual Revenues
Appear to be two principal size classes
About a fifth of Co-operatives report annual revenues between $30,000 and $100,000
Over half of co-ops report annual revenues of $500,000 or more:
about a quarter between $500,000 and $1 million
about a fifth between $1 million and $10 million

11. Nonprofits and Co-ops by Size of Annual Revenues
Revenue picture is much different from that seen with NPOs, where over half of organizations report annual revenues less that $100,000.
As compared to NPOs, Co-ops appear to be much less likely to report annual revenues less than $30,000.
Conversely, they are much more likely to report annual revenues between $500,000 and $10 million.

12. Contributions to Total Revenues*
+25%
* NPO figures exclude Hospitals, Universities & Colleges

13. Contributions to Total Revenues*
Primary changes in the areas of Development and Housing and Other. Major contributors in terms of revenue:
Development & Housing – credit unions, housing co-ops
Other – agricultural, among others
+132%
+169%
* Excludes Hospitals, Universities & Colleges

14. Relative Paid Staff Complements of Nonprofits and Co-ops
Total paid staff for Nonprofits: around 960 thousand
Total paid staff for Co-ops: 15,500
Total sectoral paid staff: approx 975 thousand

15. Nonprofits and Co-ops by Size of Paid Staff Complements

16. Contributions to Total Paid Staff Complement*
+6%
Contributions to Paid staff complement are modest and concentrated in a handful of organization types
8,300 in Development & Housing
5,900 in the Other Category
+42%
* Excludes Hospitals, Universities & Colleges

17. Contributions to Total Paid Staff Complement*
+3%
+4%
5,000 in the $1 to $10 million group
7,700 in the $10 million+ group
* NPO figures exclude Hospitals, Universities & Colleges

18. Relative Volunteer Complements of Nonprofits and Co-ops
Total volunteers for Nonprofits: 7.8 million
Total paid staff for Co-ops: 49,000
Total sectoral paid staff: approx 7.8 million

19. Nonprofits and Co-ops by Size of Volunteer Complements

20. Contributions to Volunteer Complement*
Contributions to volunteer complement are extremely modest and highly concentrated.
About two-thirds of total volunteers for Co-operatives are involved with Development & Housing organizations -
+47%
* Excludes Hospitals, Universities & Colleges

21. Contributions to Volunteer Complement*
Changes are roughly equally distributed across organization sizes – maximum of about 2% of volunteers for each organization size class.
* NPO figures exclude Hospitals, Universities & Colleges

22. Paid Staff Fraction*
* NPO figures exclude Hospitals, Universities & Colleges

23. Part-time Paid Staff Fraction*
* NPO figures exclude Hospitals, Universities & Colleges