Cooperative Development Services

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March 2007

Taking Responsibility for Community Child Care: A Co-op Approach

Cooperatives can be put to work in our communities to fill very specific needs. In communities where child care is not available, parents are banding together to fill their child care needs through the use of the co-op model. In Manitoba there are over 45 child care cooperatives, some of which have been around since the early 1970s.

While child care co-ops pop up in both rural and urban settings, they all have one thing in common; they are governed democratically by the member-parents. The idea is simple, communities in need of child care facilities provide the service for themselves since there is not anyone else willing or able to provide the service.

Residents of Manitoba, particularly rural Manitoba have increasingly diverse childcare needs. Seasonality, flexibility, overnight availability, and location are all factors in the selection of child care facilities. Community members must come together and form a collective solution to best fill the needs of the community.

There is no better way to do this than forming a cooperative. Groups of parents with similar needs joining together to fill their childcare needs. Based on the democratic principle, one member one vote, each parent has an equal say in how the co-op child care facility is operated. To become a member the parents purchase and membership share in the cooperative, and then member-parents vote for a board of directors who hire management or staff to run the co-op.

By having control of the co-op, the parents can design programs that best fill their child care needs. As a non-profit, a co-op can help keep costs down while still providing quality programming and local employment.

As access to specialized, economical child care becomes increasingly important, child care co-ops will become a more popular option in rural communities.

For more information on child care co-ops, or any other type of cooperative, please contact Cooperative Development Services at 1-866-MANITOBA (1-866-626-4862) or visit the website at www.co-ops.mb.ca or email co-ops@gov.mb.ca.