The City of Gatineau strongly supports the development of the social economy as a niche for economic development. In particular, it supports the Outaouais-Laurentides Regional Development Co-operative (CDROL), which is the flagship organization of the Outaouais social economy. In their region, two forms of social economy are present: non-profit organizations (NPOs) and cooperatives. The CDROL promotes these two types of entrepreneurship that fit into the values ​​of the social economy.

Gatineau is the Social Economy Pole of the Outaouais. It is estimated that more than 4400 people work in a social economy enterprise, which represents 2% of jobs in the City of Gatineau.

Expectations from GSEF

• Improving its practices 
• Developing relationships and intermunicipal partnerships  to support its regional development
• Bring the main actors of the social economy in the Outaouais to strengthen their ties, feed the regional ecosystem and consider new projects together for the collective entrepreneurs of the territory.

Other Interests

• Co-creation of public policies
• Contribution of the social economy to the transformation of the territory
• Challenges for the growth of organizations of the social economy and the future of work and employment .

Finally, it wants to make the City of Gatineau and the Outaouais region shine with its innovative practices and experiences such as the Laiterie de l'Outaouais, which was a great collective project.