The ''Canada Cooperatives Act'' () is a law enacted by the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...

, and addresses Canada's incorporation regime for co-operative businesses that are of a federal nature.

Legislative history

The act superseded the Co-operative Associations Act, 1970, and was introduced by John Manley as Bill C-5 in the 36th Parliament of Canada on 25 September 1997. The Bill was characterized as being a result of requests and model legislation by tertiary co-operative organizations - the

Canadian Co-operative Association The Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) is a not-for-profit co-operative to establish and grow co-operatives, credit unions, and community-based organizations in less developed countries. Canadian Co-operative Association and Co-operative D ...

and Conseil canadien de la co-opération requesting modernization to permit greater capital investment, to harmonize with incoming provincial changes, to align with provisions in the Business Corporations Act, to permit mergers and to decrease bureaucracy. At the debate stage during

second reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming ...

of the bill, the bill saw support except among the

Bloc Quebecois Bloc may refer to: Government and politics * Political bloc, a coalition of political parties * Trade bloc, a type of intergovernmental agreement * Voting bloc, a group of voters voting together * Black bloc, a tactic used by protesters who wear ...

, who wanted substantial amendments. It was reported back from the industry committee with amendments which were adopted. At third reading, the bill passed without a recorded vote on 9 December, and with positive statements by the Bloc Quebecois, Liberals, NDP and Progressive Conservatives. There was some confusion raised in debate about whether the Saskatchewan and Alberta wheat pools were operating as co-operatives while being traded on an exchange, but those questions were unresolved in debate. The bill was read for the first time in the Senate on the same day it passed the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, and passed second reading with minimal debate on 16 December and passed 3rd reading without debate after a committee report recommended no changes. The House received notice on 31 March 1998, that the Bill received assent from Deputy Governor General and

Puisne Justice Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...

Michel Bastarache. The Act came into effect on 31 December 1999. The Act has seen minor amendments, including as part of a general overhaul of corporate legislation under Bill C-25 in 2016.

Statutory details and powers

The Act details responsibilities and powers for the designated minister. It established the share structure and definition of a business operating under co-operative principles. The Act establishes requirements for

by-laws A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), is a set of rules or law established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authority. The higher authority, generally a legislature or some other ...

and

corporate directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

, the ability to carry on business, as well as banning

insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider informati ...

, mandating financial disclosures. It also establishes special rules for worker co-operatives, including minimum amounts of co-ownership, handling layoffs, and special by-law requirements. The minister has power to create

regulations Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

under the act, and a corresponding regulation outlines multiple exercises of this power with regard to restrictions on business names, forms, and the establishment of certain fees to be paid to the government for services rendered to co-ops.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Canada Cooperatives Act, 1998''
Canadian federal legislation Corporate law 1998 in Canadian law