- Sessions Overview
- Speakers
 
Breakout Session 10
Session Organiser:
Chantier de l’économie sociale
Introduction
The Chantier de l'économie sociale is an independent organization whose goal is to promote and develop the social economy as an integral part of Quebéc’s socio-economic infrastructure and as an essential component of a new model of development. A non-profit corporation, Chantier brings together a wide range of stakeholders who work in partnership and collaborate with government to build a strong social economy in Quebéc.
The Chantier has a broad membership based on existing networks and territorial structures. The Board of Directors of the Chantier is composed of 35 elected representatives from networks of social economy enterprises (associations and cooperatives) representing various sectors of the economy, networks of local development organisations in urban and rural areas, social movements including labour and women organisations and representatives of the research community and Quebéc’s First Nations. The Board plays a role of guidance and strategic positioning. The Chantier de l’économie sociale has strong ties with the regions of Quebéc through direct partnership agreements with 22 regional poles mainly composed of social economy enterprises and the regional organizations that support them. The poles’ mission is to promote the social economy and to enable dialogue and partnership between local and regional stakeholders of the social economy in order to coordinate actions and maximize the impact initiatives of and for the SSE.
In October 2013, new framework legislation on the social economy was adopted by the Quebéc National Assembly. The new Social Economy Law recognizes the Chantier de l’économie sociale as one of the two principal partners of the Quebéc Government to continue to support and develop the social economy in Quebéc.
 
Impacts
Since its creation, the Chantier has been instrumental in building a strong movement in favour of the social economy through promotion, mobilisation and networking. The focus of its work is to create favorable conditions for the development of social economy enterprises in communities across Quebéc. It has played a leading role in the co-construction of public policy in favour of the social economy with the Quebéc government and with municipalities. In 2009, it was one of the signing partners of the City of Montréal’s ‘Partnership for the Social Economy in Montreal’.
Its members are responsible for many of the advances in the Quebéc economy such as the development of new services, access to culture, poverty reduction, the revitalization of communities, workplace democracy, environmental protection and improved inclusion of young people.
The Chantier has developed several tools to create favorable conditions for the development of the SE: In 1997, it initiated the creation of the CSMO-ESAC, the Workforce Development Council for the Social Economy and the Community Sector. In 1997, it created the first investment fund dedicated to social economy enterprises, RISQ (Social Investment Network of Quebéc) and in 2007 it created the Chantier de l’économie sociale Trust, an innovative investment fund that offers ‘patient capital’ to collective enterprises .In 2012, it launched a new initiative to support commercialization through a transactional platform, Commerce solidaire.
The Chantier has also been deeply involved in international exchanges and is a member of RIPESS, an intercontinental network dedicated to the promotion of the social and solidarity economy. After organizing a major International Forum on the Social and Solidarity Economy, in 2011, it created the International Centre for Referencing and Networking on Public Policy for the SSE (RELIESS) and continues to participate in the promotion of the social and solidarity economy at the international level.
(In Quebéc, the social economy consists of approximately 7000 enterprises; these are cooperatives and non-profit organizations working in 20 economic sectors (arts and culture, food, retail, the environment, collective real estate, leisure and tourism, information technology and communications, media, manufacturing, personal services, etc.).