Foundational Projects

During its initial stages of development, the BC Social Economy Roundtable (BCSER) undertook some important projects, collecting and creating important foundational information to create an initial portrait of the social economy in BC. This work also served to inform the BCSER about what is needed in BC to create an enabling environment for a vibrant social economy.

These four projects were lead by a BCSER participating organization and funded by Western Economic Diversification Canada and Vancity.


Mapping the Social Economy in British Columbia
The mapping project was a province-wide initiative to uncover, collect and describe the participants and activities that make up the social economy in BC. An online inventory of the assets documented was created and the resulting database illustrates the scope and potential of BC’s social economy. This project was lead by the United Community Services Co-op.

Click here to explore the map online.


BC Social Economy Regional Forums 2005
A series of nine one-day forums engaged communities across the province in a dialogue to develop participants’ familiarity, understanding, and interest in developing the social economy within their region. This project was co-lead by the Canadian Community Economic Development Network and the Community Futures Development Association of BC.

Click here to read summary reports of each regional forum.


Telling Our Stories
There are many innovative activities and social enterprises that are successfully driving the social economy in British Columbia. A number of exceptional stories were collected and documented in a booklet entitled A Social Economy Showcase - BC Stories. This project was lead by IMPACS - Institute for Media Policy and Civil Society

Click here to download the stories book.


Defining the BC Social Economy
The information and experiences collected in the other three provincial projects contributed to the development of a definition paper for the social economy in BC, entitled Defining the Social Economy – The BC Context. The paper provides some clarity and context to the ongoing definition debate. This project was lead by the BC Co-operative Association.

Click here to download a copy of the definition paper and to explore some of the other social economy definitions that exist.