COCo works with about 400 ethno-cultural, bilingual and English-speaking community groups a year. Over time, we have noticed that these groups are more diverse in their services and programs, less con- nected to formal networks in Quebec and work with less government funding than their francophone counterparts. After organizing two forums about government funding, we realized that most groups in our network have little knowledge of SACAIS, Quebec government funding or the formal network sys- tem that exists among community groups in Quebec. Discussions between COCo and SACAIS officials identified the need to more fully document the reality of English-speaking, bilingual and ethno-cultural groups. In the Know has sought to do this.

The Research

The Centre for Community Organizations (COCo) began the community-based action research project “In the Know: Identifying multiple aspects of Québec’s community sector” in October of 2008 to help develop a better understanding of the diversity of groups working for social change in Québec. The study, funded and supported by the Secretariat à l’Action Communautaire Autonome et aux Initiatives Sociales (SACAIS), aimed to survey English-speaking, bilingual and ethno-cultural community groups across Québec over a 3 year period. The research was carried out between 2009 and 2012 and was carried out primarily by Sarah Blumel and Frances Ravensburgen.

The Results

Check out the documents below for the results of our research.