According to the “Law on Cooperatives”, a cooperative is a legal person that combines people or companies with common economic, social or cultural needs who, in order to meet these needs, associate in order to operate a business in compliance with the rules on cooperative activity.
An agricultural cooperative is a cooperative whose principle aim is related to agriculture or to activities connected to agriculture, to the supply of goods and the offer of services used in this activity or in the production, processing, warehousing, marketing, handling and transportation of products related to this activity.
The Citadelle Maple Syrup Producers’ Cooperative is an agricultural cooperative active in the areas of maple, honey and cranberry production. It is spread over 11 administrative regions throughout Quebec and has close to 2000 members. The Cooperative maintains a network of depot facilities for the purposes of collecting maple syrup harvests. The Cooperative works in the US and Canada with a number of brokers and does business with distributors all around the world. Present in over 40 countries, CITADELLE brings tree, hive and berry to the table for its producers and consumers.
A declaration adopted in Manchester in 1996 by the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) on cooperative identity.
The fundamental values of cooperation are taking personal and common responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. Upholding the intent of the founders, cooperative members abide by a set of values founded on honesty, transparency, social responsibility and altruism.
The seven cooperative principles guide cooperatives in putting their values into practice.
In a cooperative, powers are exercised during the annual general assembly, but for practical reasons, administrative powers are bestowed upon the board of directors who delegate these powers among various categories of employee according to their individual competencies.
In addition to their role as representatives, they must: