Opinion: Want a more resilient Canadian economy? Double down on democratic employee ownership
With the U.S. government's escalating trade war, we need to rethink and prepare to reorient Canada's economy. We need new export markets and to reduce barriers to interprovincial trade, but we can do more.
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Our economy must be better for workers, small businesses, families and communities. We need creative and tested ideas that are supported across the political spectrum. Fortunately, such policies exist. Last year, federal legislation created Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs), a promising new vehicle to make workplaces more democratic, giving workers more ownership and control.
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In a democratic employee-owned firm, employees collectively own a majority of the company, have meaningful rights to help shape decisions and profits are shared broadly and equitably.
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Such firms exist in Canada, but are small in number. They are most common in Quebec but exist elsewhere. Friesens, in Manitoba, is one of Canada's leading book printers and is employee-owned and democratic. Shift Delivery is a worker cooperative, bike-powered delivery firm serving Vancouver, and PCL Construction and Chandos construction are 100 per cent employee-owned.
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EOTs make it easier for business owners to sell their firms to their employees, with the purchase price paid out of the firm's profits over several years, meaning no out-of-pocket costs to employees. Grantbook, a company that advises philanthropic foundations, became the first Canadian company to convert to an EOT in January 2025.
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Canada's federal and provincial leaders should adopt policies to help make our economy more resilient and there are many reasons why democratic employee-owned firms will help achieve that.
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Democratic firms are more grounded in their communities as employee-owners are unlikely to move their businesses out of their communities in response to tariffs or other economic shocks. Nor are they going to run around the globe looking for the cheapest labour force.
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Democratic employee-owned firms have a track record of weathering economic adversity and facing it with creativity. They are less likely to fail during a recession and more likely to maintain employment and wages for their workers, helping to maintain macroeconomic stability for the wider economy.
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