The Vancouver Cleaning Co-operative (TCC) is a worker-owned business serving clients across the Lower Mainland. Founded out of our lived experiences of exploitation, discrimination, patriarchy, and capitalism, TCC started as three women who wanted to do better for themselves and for others in the cleaning industry. As a co-op, our cleaners are also owners, and every decision we make is rooted in our mission to empower our members and support our community. Whether we’re cleaning commercial and medical offices or residential and senior homes, we don’t compromise on our standards of employment nor on the service we provide to our clients.
Question: How are you supporting other local businesses?
Answer: We’ve recently switched over the majority of the cleaning products we use to a locally owned & manufactured brand, Pink Solution. We have an incredible partnership with Modo Carshare Co-op, we clean their 1000+ vehicles, and they provide us with company cars so our team members can get safely from job to job. (We’ve also recently moved our offices into their ops bay, making us closer than ever.)
TCC and Solid State Community Industries (SSCI) are more than client and service provider; we’re collaborators in a shared vision. Solid State supported TCC from the very beginning, offering financial support, branding connections, and business development guidance through their incubation program. TCC provides cleaning services for Solid State’s physical space, which hosts regular meetings, events, and communal meals.
We bank with two locally owned credit unions, primarily Community Savings but also Vancity. Our insurance is provided through The Co-operators.
All of our clients are local, including many locally owned businesses or organizations: This World’s Ours Centre, Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House, The Ivy on Parker Guest House, The Black Arts Centre, OneSpace, and Brightside Community Homes Foundation.
Question: What social and environmental practices are you proud of?
Answer: The safety of our team and our clients is of utmost importance to us. With our recent switch in cleaning products, the majority of products our team is now using are plant and mineral-based, biodegradable, non-toxic, pet safe, vegan, septic-safe, and not tested on animals. We’re also purchasing them in concentrate form, helping us reduce our waste both in transportation and the reuse of plastic bottles.
Many of our team members share their experiences prior to joining TCC to provide our cleaners with important health and safety training and prevent workplace injuries.
We partner with many local organizations to help us with hiring and recruiting women who have recently arrived in Canada, including: ISS of BC, Mission Possible, Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility.
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