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Case Study: Could employee-ownership be a comprehensive “Made in Canada” solution that addresses several pressing issues?


As the threat to Canada’s sovereignty intensifies, we need policies that keep Canadian companies owned by Canadians. With many business owners approaching retirement and the Canadian dollar in free fall, Canada faces the risk of a significant sell-off of companies to Americans.


Ever dream of owning the company you work for? That dream could soon be a reality for many Canadians thanks to employee ownership trusts (EOTs).


Three times a year, the 600-or-so employees of Friesens Corp. gather in front of the printing house to accept envelopes, each one holding a cheque for the workers’ share of company profits.


In this episode of Taking Care of Business, the Business Council of Manitoba sits down with Chad Friesen to learn more about employee ownership, its benefits, and how we can increase its prevalence in Manitoba and Canada.


Case study: This teaching case study explores the evolution of employee ownership at Friesens Corporation, one of Canada’s leading book printers. Employee ownership has been a cornerstone of Friesens’ ability to navigate economic downturns and systemic changes in the printing industry, while creating wealth for employees and retaining a strong commitment to the local community.


In total, $2,100,000 was distributed at Wednesday’s lunch. So far in 2023, Friesens has issued $4,350,000 in cheques to its employee-owners. Friesen added, over the last 12 months, the company has distributed, on average, over $10,000 to the average Friesens employee-owner.


Canada is undergoing the largest wave of business owner retirements in its history, with over $2 trillion in business assets projected to be sold over the next decade.

The federal government is considering a way to seize on a golden opportunity to build economic resilience throughout this transition by adopting one of the most popular business succession tools available in the U.S. and U.K.: Employee Ownership Trusts.

Panel: Christine Cooper – Executive Vice President and Head, BMO Commercial Bank, Canada; Chad Friesen – Friesens Corporation; Tim Masson – Chief Steward & CEO, Raise Recruiting; Cindy Turcot – CEO & President, Gardener’s Supply Company


Glenda MacPhail, a book project specialist at Friesens Corp. in Altona, was one of about 550 employees at the sprawling printing operation who got a share of $5 million in company distributions last year, on top of their regular pay.


Last year, the trust distributed $5,000,000 among 550 qualifying employee-owners (on average that is over $9,000/employee or more than two months of additional pay). The company broke records for revenue, profits, and number of employees in 2022.


“The company benefited greatly from investments made over the last five years as we’ve expanded our facilities, upgraded equipment, automated processes, and added capacity. All these efforts contributed to our success as we enjoyed unprecedented demand from our customers,” said Byron Loeppky, senior vice-president.


The ESOP Association (USA) has been an early supporter of Employee Ownership Canada and the Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). So much so that they are dedicating a day of Employee Owned to Canadian Employee Ownership Trusts.

We invite both Canadian and American companies to join the conference and the EOT conversation from November 13-15 in Las Vegas. To register, go to www.esopassociation.org/employee-owned-2024   


Prior to this appointment, Chad was a steering committee member of the Canadian Employee Ownership Coalition that successful advocated the federal government to introduce an ‘Employee Ownership Trust’ (EOT) model for the first time in Canada along with capital gains tax incentives to encourage owners to sell to an EOT. With this work now completed, the CEOC merged with Employee Ownership Canada to create a single voice for employee ownership and specifically EOTs.

The priorities of Employee Ownership Canada are to promote employee ownership, raise awareness about EOTs, advocate for legislation improvements, and help guide business owners to transition their companies to an EOT.

“I am very proud of what the coalition has achieved over the last 18 months. I’m also excited for the energy we’re now creating around Employee Ownership Canada and this important mission for the country”.


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