Like its Québec predecessor, the Working Ventures Canadian Fund, Inc., was conceived during the 1981-83 recession. Alarmed by continuing high unemployment, the Canadian Federation of Labour (CFL) decided to build on established member interest in financial participation and explore different options for collective capital formation. CFL President James A. McCambly was given a convention mandate to this effect in 1984.
The CFL itself was born in 1982. Today, it is the second largest national labour central with eleven affiliated unions and over 220,000 individual members. CFL affiliates represent workers in a wide variety of sectors, including construction, manufacturing, mining, communications, transportation, health care and the public service.
In November, 1986, McCambly and CFL leaders put a formal submission for a national labour-sponsored investment fund before the Conservative government, followed by a presentation to full cabinet (where Working Ventures is believed to have won final approval). In February, 1988, the federal budget announced changes to the Income Tax Act introducing the appropriate terms and conditions for a national fund. Working Ventures incorporated as the first of these in the same month and year.
In succeeding years, the support of provincial governments in western, central and eastern Canada were of equal importance since federal action did not make jurisdictional entry straightforward. Rather, the fund had to earn matching tax credits, and the right to invest, by satisfying legal requirements on a provincial basis. This multi-jurisdictional approach caused genuine growing pains for Working Ventures as did its costly role as the essential prototype for many labour-sponsored investment funds outside of Québec.
As Figure 19 indicates, Working Ventures has displayed remarkable growth since 1988. Today, it has net assets of almost $500 million and a shareholder base of 91,000.
Shareholders come from all provinces, but chiefly from those where the fund is completely operational - New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan.