Incorporation Phase

Connecting to the pre-incorporation phase the leader should explore the legal requirement to incorporate as a co-operative; the founders must be at least three people or two organizations and meet The Co-operative Act (part 2) (PDF) requirement to incorporate. The co-operatives may be for profit or not-for-profit and under each category it may be with shares or without shares. Under with share it may be only membership shares or membership share and investment shares. Those differences should be clear to the member founder because they will determinate the source of financing for the co-operative.

At this stage the leaders need to explore The Co-operatives Act and regulations related to the type of co-operatives they expect to conduct, to fill out the registration forms and remit the fees required.

Before starting the process of incorporation, the co-op conducts a strategic plan to identify its mission, vision and objectives which will be communicated to other members and the community. It’s time to set up the goals and the deadline of the co-op project and should also set up tools and measurement to measure its success or failure and evaluate the work of different stakeholders

The legislation has identified articles and by-laws for each kind of co-operatives which can be found on the following links:

• Instruction and articles for incorporation
• Offering statement (PDF)
• Manitoba Securities Commission

After reserving the right name , the founders submit the articles matching

Contact Cooperative Development Services:

Cooperative Development Services
Manitoba Housing and Community Development
2nd Floor - 406 Edmonton St. (As of June 30, 2011)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3B 2M2

Phone: 204-945-3379
Fax: 204-948-1065
Toll-free: 1-866-479-6155
Email: co-ops@gov.mb.ca