As announced by the Canadian Co-operative Association and others last recently, the termination of the Co-operative Development Initiative and the drastic cuts to the Rural and Co-operatives Secretariat will have a significant impact on the development of new co-operative businesses, jobs, and services for communities throughout Canada.

In a year that the United Nations has declared the “International Year of Cooperatives” - which the federal government endorsed at the United Nations and has been a partner in supporting - the elimination of the only federal government program dedicated to co-op development is not only hard to understand, it is misguided and will result in a negative economic impact much greater than the short-term spending that is “saved.”

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SocialFinance.ca produces a weekly round up featuring social finance related news, insights, job openings, and events. We source the content for these round ups from Twitter, an RSS reader, and directly from our community of social finance practitioners. Below is our round up for the week of April 23, 2012.

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The Community Forward Fund is an innovative fund that provides loans to charities and non-profits. Its manager, CFFAC, also provides financial coaching services. Its vision is a sustainable non-profit and charitable sector. In April, along with several of their partners and supporters, the CFF marked the official opening of their Fund at a celebration hosted by Citizens Bank at their Toronto offices.

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When you’re looking for change, ask Obama or his American crowd.

They are about to change the game for emerging American businesses struggling to access capital and average investors looking to place capital in local, impact ventures.

After months of debate, the US government passed the bi-partisan Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act [PDF] (JOBS Act or HR 3606), new legislation designed to modify existing securities regulations, “…to make it easier for smaller businesses and startups to raise money from the public…”

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Recently on SocialFinance.ca, Timothy Nash offered a tip for those considering shifting their money to help build a more sustainable economy. At the top of his list? “Join a credit union,” he said. We’re not going to argue with that kind of advice. Indeed, the recent economic crisis has caused a lot of people in Canada and around the world to give credit unions a second, or even a first look.

As Nash alludes to in his article, what’s attractive for those concerned about sustainability is that credit unions are co-operatives, mission-driven to improve the quality of life of their members and their local communities. That’s kinda nice to hear isn’t it? But the really good news is that credit unions are continuously improving their social, environmental and economic performance.

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