By the end of World War II credit unions and other co-operatives dotted the Maritimes, transforming the lives of thousands of people. Coady was honoured within the co-operative movement and beyond. He was featured on a national radio program of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on co-operatives in 1940. In 1946 the Vatican made him a Monsignor. In 1949 Coady was asked to address the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. He argued that environmental problems stemmed from ignorance of science, concentration of rural land ownership in the hands of a few, and exploitation of land primarily for profit.