There are 297 co-operative businesses and credit unions operating in Nova Scotia with just over 43,000 members. They operate in all parts of the province in every sector of the economy. Seven of the top 25 largest businesses in Nova Scotia are co-operative or credit union ventures, but most co-operatives in the province are smaller and fill a specialized niche within specific communities.
The largest number of co-ops can be found in the Halifax Regional Municipality (93), but Kings County is home to the most co-operative employees (965). Colchester County has the second largest number of co-ops (33) followed by Cape Breton County (29). Overall, housing co-operatives are the largest category type followed by service co-operatives and worker co-operatives. Over the past decade an average of 20 new co-operative businesses have been incorporated annually.
Co-operatives identify themselves as either for-profit or non-profit. This choice reflects the founding members' guiding principles including whether surpluses are kept with the business (non-profit) or distributed to members (for profit). Forty six per cent of all co-operatives in Nova Scotia are organized as non-profit corporations.
The Nova Scotia Co-operative Council provides advocacy, education and communications assistance to its members and serves as the voice of the co-operative movement in the province.
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