The Fonds de solidarité model was also distinct from the Régime d’épargne-actions in that it geared share purchasing towards inception of an FTQ-controlled institution and equity pool with a similar mandate for financing small and medium-sized enterprises. On top of this, the new fund would have a multi-faceted investment mandate to which other social and economic objectives are integral.

Following its creation in 1983, the Fonds de solidarité model has been emulated and adapted to other Canadian jurisdictions. In 1988, for instance, the federal government amended the Income Tax Act to establish the first national labour-sponsored investment fund — Working Ventures — under the auspices of the Canadian Federation of Labour. Like its Québec predecessor, the origins of Workings Ventures lie in the recession.

More provincially-based funds followed. This began in 1991 with Working Opportunity, sponsored by a multi-union group that includes the British Columbia Federation of Labour, and in 1992 with the Crocus Fund, sponsored by the Manitoba Federation of Labour. Since then, most provinces have confined themselves to a so-called “home” fund or have allowed for the introduction of Working Ventures or have done both (e.g., New Brunswick). The passage of legislation in Ontario in 1992 heralded a new trend — that of numerous funds in a single jurisdiction (again, see Figure 1).

As is the case with equivalent institutions in other countries, the inception of labour- sponsored funds in Canada has always occurred with the strong advocacy of public policy. In fact, enabling legislation, tax credits and other incentives have been implemented and endorsed by Canadian governments of all political stripes — Conservatives, Liberals, New Democrats, the Parti Québecois, and Social Credit — which suggests something of the perceived value of the funds in the deployment of public policy requirements.

Research conducted by the CLMPC indicates that, despite some key differences, labour- sponsored funds share several qualities in common — to a greater or lesser extent. These qualities reflect founding principles contained in the statutes of government and/or in the private mandates developed by the funds themselves. It is critical to examine these characteristics in order to understand the many aims the funds were conceived to meet, including requirements made of them by legislators both at the provincial and federal levels. This is the task assumed in the following sections.