On January 23, 2020, our Social Economy Officer, Annick Tremblay and our Youth Entrepreneurship Advisor, Myriam Vallières, traveled to Kanesatake to present a workshop and a conference on the social economy.

Since January, 17 students from the fifth and sixth primary grades of Rotiwennakehte School have been developing social economy business projects that will be carried out until the month of June. This is a pilot project put in place by the community’s economic development team. Throughout the school year, the students will receive aid from Mr. Patrick Gélinas and Ms. Nadia Robertson, as well as from all the members of the Kanesatake economic development team. At their request, the FNQLEDC got involved in the structure and the accompaniment of the projects. Our two resources went on site to offer a workshop on entrepreneurship and on social economy.

The goal of this workshop was to guide the youths in the identification of projects they could carry out. The workshop aimed at developing the creativity of young people, but also at identifying their common interests. so that they can form teams and get involved in projects they are passionate about. The coaching team of the pilot project will therefore take the challenge of supporting the youths in the projects they have identified.  Consequently, they will need to look at bringing other experts from the community in order to develop the expertise of the young people in particular areas and guide them in the development of their projects. The young people have indicated, among other things, an interest for healthy food, cultural transmission, and video games. We shall follow the evolution of these projects with interest.

Subsequently, later on in the evening, Annick and Myriam presented a conference on the social economy, which was aimed at the population at large. In fact, we would like to thank all the people who were present at the conference for their great involvement in discussions.

Further information on the social economy, we invite you to visit our social economy section and to consult our tools on this subject.