The expression "social economy" is slowly making its way into the vocabulary of those
concerned with sustainable development strategies. Over the past decade, the definition
of the social economy on which civil society actors and government in Québec have
based their idea of development is the following: a non-profit or cooperative enterprise
that has emerged from the community and has a social and economic mission.
Independent of the State and democratically run, it depends both on individual and
collective participation. Capital and money are viewed as tools to benefit the community