page_title: History of cooperatives in Canada
section_title: Rural cooperatives
hierarchical_section_title: History of cooperatives in Canada / History / Rural cooperatives
caption_attribution_description: English: Tent for the Grain Growers. Grain Co., a cooperative farmers organization in Canada that was the precursor of the United Grain Growers
context_page_description: The cooperative movement in Canada is a social and economic movement that started in the middle of the 19th century and continues until today.
  During the Great Migration of Canada many British people as well as citizens from other European countries immigrated to Canada with new ideas of cooperative enterprises. Starting with unsuccessful attempts but inspired by examples from British cooperative movement as well as fast development of Canada as a state, cooperative movement became one of the important events in Canadian economic history.
context_section_description: Agricultural movements were the first successful cooperative movements in Canada. The dairy industry had a lot of opportunities because many farmers had excessive production of milk. Between 1860 and 1900 not without help of Canadian Pacific Railway there were developed over 1200 cooperative creameries and cheese factories in Ontario, Québec and Atlantic Canada. With reefer ships becoming more common cheese became a major export to Great Britain.
  In Prairie Canada farmers led by Edward Alexander Partridge organized the Grain Growers' Grain Company in 1906. Their aim was to market directly to millers and European buyers. Patridge had strong beliefs in cooperation as a weapon against "the financial buccaneers" that could bring "an industrial millenium." Before World War I many other farmer cooperatives appeared in different branches of the agricultural industry, such as fruit, livestock, and tobacco. In particular, the Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Co. appeared in 1911 and the Alberta Farmers' Co-operative Elevator Co.
  Rural cooperatives had a huge influence in political area. Among the main movements were the Patrons of Husbandry (1870s), the Patrons of Industry (1890s), Progressive movement (1914-1930), the western branches of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and Social Credit Party of Canada (both in the 1930s)
  During World War I rural cooperatives expanded rapidly due to consumer demand for cheaper food. Moreover, farmers explored new ways of marketing and cooperative ways of saving and borrowing money. Cooperatives who experienced bigger growth included the new multipurpose Co-operative Fédérée (established 1910 in Québec), and United Farmers' Co-operative (established 1914 in Ontario).
  By 1919 as farmers wanted to control the marketing of their products more, they were drawn in a system so-called "cooperative pooling". The principle of the system was to sign contracts with cooperative members to sell all their products through their cooperative. In return members would receive dividends. According to these principles farmers of Prairies organized wheat pools in the 1920s.
caption: Grain Growers Grain Co circa 1910
exif: {"Image Software": "Google", "Image ExifOffset": "46", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "600", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "392"}