Canadian Social Economy Hub

The Canadian Social Economy Hub (CSEHub) acts as a facilitator promoting collaboration among six regional research centres across Canada, and creating opportunities and exchanges with international networks.

The Canadian Social Economy Hub seeks to answer the question: How can the approaches of the Social Economy be better understood and effectively applied so that community organizations, civil society, community developers and researchers can collaborate to empower groups and communities to meet their social and economic needs?

The Hub's vision is to promote collaboration between researchers and practitioners in order to encourage initiatives at the local, provincial and national levels so the Social Economy and its related approaches are more widely understood and applied in Canada.

The Canadian Social Economy Hub (CSEHub) acts as a facilitator promoting collaboration among six regional research centres across Canada, and creating opportunities and exchanges within international networks. CSEHub reaches out to practitioners, to researchers and to civil society through the regional research centres and their community partners. It undertakes research as needed in order to understand and promote the Social Economy tradition within Canada, and as a subject of academic enquiry within universities.

CSEHub is developing a database and communication system to promote awareness and understanding of the Canadian Social Economy and to advance research and teaching programs. It will address public policy issues through research papers aimed at public servants, politicians and civil society.

CSEHub is funded via a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and is supported by the University of Victoria and Canadian Community Economic Development Network.

The BC Institute for Co-operative Studies (BCICS) is the host organization for CSEHub. Ian MacPherson, of the University of Victoria, and Rupert Downing, of the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CEDNet), are co-directors of the Canadian Social Economy Hub. Board members include representatives from each regional centre as well as from the following organizations:

• Canada Research Chair on the Social Economy
• Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche et d'Information sur les Entreprises Collectives
• Canadian Women's CED Council
• L'Alliance de recherche universités-communautés en économie sociale
• Le chantier de l'économie sociale
• Imagine Canada
• The Community Economic Development Technical
• Assistance Program Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers
• Canadian Co-operative Association