Staff education

Vancity supports staff in learning about global co-operatives models through formal education and other learning opportunities. These educational experiences help our staff to promote and strengthen the co-operative movement in the local community by:

• Supporting co-operative business development
• Volunteering and serving on the boards of local consumer co-operatives
• Teaching the co-operative enterprise model at the post-secondary level
• Incorporating co-operative values and principles into their everyday work
• Defining new opportunities to support co-op development

Master of Management, Co-operative & Credit Unions

Every year, Vancity supports several staff to participate in the St. Mary’s University Master of Management, Co-operatives and Credit Unions Program.

This distance education program based out of St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, aims to provide exceptional management skills to current and future co-operative leaders.

The Vancity Emilia-Romagna Co-operative Study Tour

In the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, co-operatives account for fully one-third of the regions GDP, with social and business co-operatives supporting high-quality health and social services, social cohesion, common values, democracy, and the equitable distribution of wealth.

The Vancity Emilia-Romagna Co-operative Study Tour (also known as “the Bologna Program”) was initiated in 2002. Each year, selected staff members have an opportunity to visit the region, learn from this vital co-operative model, and bring that knowledge back with them to support the credit union’s role in growing our co-operative economy.