Aboriginal Co-operatives in Canada - Centre for the Study of Co ...

in sectors that are more labor intensive, such as the primary and construction sectors. Co-opsfollow the same pattern, where the vast majority of them are consumer co-ops that are not capitalintensive. One tenth of Aboriginal co-ops are doing business in the primary sector− less than halfthe proportion of “regular” Aboriginal businesses, where more than one fourth are in the primarysector. But Aboriginal co-ops are still above the national average of 8.2% for all businesses inCanada. Interestingly, in the construction sector there are no Aboriginal co-ops, but the highestpercent (27.9%) of Aboriginal businesses − almost double the Canadian average of 15.8%. Eventhough co-ops are not as numerous in the public services sector as all Canadian businesses, theystill have a good representation in that sector: day care and preschool co-ops being the mostcommon ones in this sector, in addition to one health co-op.Finally, we can say that Aboriginal co-ops do not follow the same sectoral distribution as otherbusinesses in general or Aboriginal businesses in particular. From Table 2.1, we can see that coopstend to be concentrated where the demand is highest among the Aboriginal population as awhole (e.g. retail and public service co-ops). The preference given to the satisfaction ofcommunity needs stems from the culture of the Aboriginal people, which is directed more towardthe well-being of the community rather than the individual.2.3 Profile of a typical Aboriginal co-opA typical (average) Aboriginal co-op is located in a rural or remote area 80% of the time.Table 2.2 Profile of a Typical (Average) Aboriginal Co-op, 1996Category Average Minimum Maximum StandardDeviation95% ConfidenceIntervalNumber of membersFull-time employeesPart-time employeesSale of consumer productsVolume of businessSalaries and wagesNet savingsTotal assetsCurrent assetsCurrent liabilitiesMembers’ equity2741252,134,8593,026,578341,677107,4942,252,1181,032,873626,0451,116,05071101,08290-220,4972,2462,245110-78,127150011227447,769,79453,907,0913,031,3751,502,89833,067,39618,104,84516,069,03418,349,14728018426,668,9477,604,240527,307235,2644,536,4372,504,9541,845,5862,774,123212 − 3358 − 160 − 14673,491 − 3,596,2281,360,259 − 4,692,898226,128 − 457,22655,941 − 159,0481,258,048 − 3,346,190483,962 − 1,581,785221,621 − 1,030,469508,156 − 1,723,94575