Canada's IYC 2012 launch

On January 12, 2012 co-operators and co-op supporters from around Canada came together to celebrate the 2012 UN International Year of Co-operatives. Fourteen cities across the country hosted 14 simultaneous events to mark this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity:

• An opportunity to raise public awareness of co-operatives and their social and economic contributions to society.

• An opportunity to support the growth and development of co-operatives in Canada and around the world.

• An opportunity to begin legacy initiatives that will outlive the International Year and inspire others to support the co-operative movement.

The celebration included a live webcast from Ottawa, Calgary and Lévis, QC. The webcast featured speeches from Steven Blaney, the federal Minister of Veterans Affairs, Kathy Bardswick, the president and CEO of The Co-operators, and Monique Leroux, the president and CEO of Desjardins. Samajam, a musical animation group from Montréal, premiered a co-operative musical work, created for the launch.

Some 1,500 people tuned in to watch the live show, while hundreds more logged into Facebook or Twitter to share their experiences using the hashtag #coop12jan. Take a peek at what happened in the 14 launch cities using our Flickr gallery and visit the IYC page for your region to learn more about what happened across the country.

For more information about this event, please contact:

Tanya Gracie, Manager, UN International Year of Co-operatives
Canadian Co-operative Association
(613) 238-6711 ext 243
tanya.gracie@coopscanada.coop

Michaël Béland, Director of communications and programs
Conseil canadien de la coopération et de la mutualité
(613) 789-5492 ext 24
michael@cccm.coop

For media enquiries, please refer to our media page.