Social Enterprise in Atlantic Canada

Abstract

This article explores the history and experience of social enterprise within Atlantic Canada. As part of the International Comparative Social Enterprise Models (ICSEM) research project, this article aims to describe the unique historical, contextual, and conceptual approaches to social enterprise in Atlantic Canada. Four case studies are provided to illustrate the diversity of social enterprise in the region. The article argues that the historical roots of social enterprise in Atlantic Canada can be found within the Antigonish Movement, and that the founding political economic vision of that movement can inform a progressive and transformative approach to social enterprise in the region. Cet article explore l’histoire et la pratique de l’entreprise sociale dans les provinces de l’Atlantique. Écrit dans le cadre du projet ICSEM (« International Comparative Social Enterprise Models »), cet article a pour but de décrire les approches historiques, contextuelles et conceptuelles envers les entreprises sociales propres aux provinces de l’Atlantique. Il présente quatre études de cas afin d’illustrer la diversité des entreprises sociales de la région. L’article soutient que les racines historiques de l’entreprise sociale dans les provinces de l’Atlantique remontent jusqu’au Mouvement d’Antigonish, et que la vision politico-économique fondatrice de ce Mouvement pourrait sous-tendre une approche envers les entreprises sociales de la région qui soit progressiste et transformatrice.

Social Enterprise, Health, and Wellbeing

“…There is a strong emphasis on the social economy tradition in Francophone Quebec (Mendell and Neamtan, 2010;Quarter et al, 2009), while Anglophone provinces such as Alberta and Ontario tend to look to the United States and Anglo-American traditions. Social enterprise has recently been formally recognised as a significant policy instrument in Atlantic Canada (Lionais, 2015), with new provincial policies in places including in Nova Scotia, which have a long history of innovative community economic development approaches.…”