Solidarity cooperatives were given legal recognition in Quebec in 1997. By 2012, 579 solidarity cooperatives were registered with the then Ministère du développement économique, de l'innovation et de l'exportation. Drawing from the decade-long history of this cooperative model and three case studies, this article gathers qualitative and quantitative data in order to identify symptomatic practices woven into the organization’s culture and operations, diagnose best and worst practices and propose corrective strategies.