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Arctic Co-ops aims to retain wealth in the North

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This article was published 10/03/2026 (201 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Duane Wilson, vice-president, stakeholder relations, at Arctic Co-operatives Limited, had already spent a decade in the co-op sector before he came to Arctic Co-ops in 2008. But when he had a chance to jump there, he took it. “I had always found it empowering to work where decisions were not based solely on cost-benefit analysis or return on equity, but on the real lives of real people,” Wilson says.

And nothing he had previously done seemed as crucial to him as the work of Arctic Co-ops in coordinating the supply and delivery of essentials — from fuel to fresh food — to 32 member co-ops spread across the Canadian Arctic. “It was a question of who was served, what was provided and to whom the benefits ultimately accrued, and my answer to that is what prompted my move 18 years ago,” says Wilson.

“At Arctic Co-ops, we have this vision of people in isolated communities working together to improve their social and economic well-being, and it’s a vision we can all rally behind.”

Since then, Wilson has seen Arctic Co-ops, a federation owned by its member co-ops, significantly bolster food security in the Arctic through such measures as organizing the dispatch of several tonnes of donated food to northern communities annually and funding a local hunter sponsorship program that helps keep recipients supplied with fuel and ammunition.

In tandem with expanding its services to community residents, Arctic Co-ops has also expanded its benefits for the 140 employees at its Winnipeg home office.

“The mental health supports that staff have now didn’t exist in 2008, for example, nor the flexible health and wellness spending accounts,” Wilson says. “We have annual engagement surveys and continuous one-on-ones with people, and the organization has been very responsive in meeting the evolving needs of employees as well as members.”

Communications coordinator Kaitlin Hardy feels the same way about Arctic Co-ops’ workplace culture. The organization has a hybrid work option she values highly. And it offers staff ample opportunities to learn and advance in their careers, says Hardy, who began there in 2019 as an administrative assistant and now runs all its internal websites. Then are those flexible spending accounts.

“One thing actually covered is veterinary bills. I have two dogs and every year, I have to get wood tick and heart disease pills and the cost is almost a thousand dollars, so that benefit is very helpful to me,” she says. “This is a place I really love, one that really values their employees.”

And its remote members. “What makes my role especially rewarding to me is that our communication work doesn’t just support our internal teams, but the member co-ops too,” says Hardy. “On our intranet platform called the Hub, we highlight programs that benefit co-op staff in their communities, as well as Winnipeg events like Welcome Wednesdays, when staff come out to meet new employees.”

For Wilson, Arctic Co-ops’ culture is valued by its staff because they made it. “We shape our organizational culture by how we treat one another, how we treat co-ops and how we show up every day, and that’s up to us,” Wilson says.

The result is the culture they want, Wilson and Hardy agree — one that values relationships and provides personal satisfaction for the work it accomplishes. “I’m part of a workplace that values communication, engagement and creating a sense of shared culture across the entire Arctic co-op system,” says Hardy. “It’s something I’m really proud of.”