About Us

About Villages Calgary. Villages Calgary has been Calgary’s Fair Trade leader for nearly four decades with the clear goal of encouraging our local community to learn about and support fair and equitable trade. We do this by selecting a wide range of certified fair trade goods that highlight diverse skills and cultures and making them available for sale through our webstore and at our storefront on Crowchild Trail in Calgary, Alberta. We also partner with local groups, like Fair Trade Calgary, to strengthen support for fair trade and provide education on what differentiates fair trade from other forms of commerce. We are a non-profit society run by a dedicated group of members; our full name is Global Village Crafts Society. Learn more about becoming a member of Global Village Crafts Society. It's easy to do and membership is free. Members vote and can be considered for positions on the Board of Directors. Click Button for more info on Membership.
Our Mission: Villages Calgary is a non-profit that encourages our community to support the livelihoods of producers from marginalized communities through ethical and fair retail trade. Our Vision: Make Fair Trade the norm to ensure the world’s poorest producers have a market for their goods. Our Values: Fairness : producer makes a living wage and customer gets a quality product. Collaboration : engage all stakeholders in creating a fair outcome. Stewardship : ensuring the Fair Trade process moves forward appropriately. Ethical : we are transparent, fair, honest in how we source our products and operate. Intentional : we use due diligence and conscience to choose our Fair Trade partners. Be the first to know! Click here to sign up for our newsletter.

 

 

Our Partners: Villages Calgary offers handmade goods from talented artisan and producer groups that are paid a fair wage. Though the value varies from place to place, a "fair wage” is one that ensures all basic monetary needs are met as well as allowing additional funds to expand and include other marginalized people in the work. This creates a sustainable livelihood and allows families and communities to prosper. Producers and artisans organized into maker groups are able to maintain control of their livelihood and creativity, meet consumer demand while jointly setting goals for community development.  Fair trade has helped many groups achieve education, sanitation, health or other program goals that benefit entire communities. Women, who may be unable to work outside the home or have become victims of human trafficking, are highly represented; making up roughly 75% of the artisans. As a non-profit group, when we prosper we are able to do even more to help the makers. This generally means we don't have sales, but will use any excess income to make donations.

Click here to learn more about specific groups and countries we work with.

Visit Us: You can find Villages Calgary at 220 Crowchild Trail NW, Calgary, Alberta. Our Hours are Monday to Saturday 10 to 6 and 12 to 4 on Sundays