The Jewish Colonisation Association[1][2][3] (JCA or ICA; Yiddish: ייִק"אַ), was an organisation created on September 11, 1891, by Baron Maurice de Hirsch.

In 1899 Baron Edmond James de Rothschild transferred title to his settlements ("moshavot") in Palestine along with fifteen million francs to the JCA.

Operating under the name Jewish Charitable Association, it describes itself as "championing innovative projects in the realms of education, agriculture, economic development and cross-community opportunities (for both Arabs and Jews) within rural areas."[11][promotion?]

In 1891, JCA bought land near Karataş, Izmir, Turkey, and established an agricultural training centre, or Yehudah, on an area totaling 30 km² by 1902.

Economic factors, notably the Great Depression, led to the dissolution of all western Canadian settlements by the end of World War II.

Thereafter concentrating its work in the east, the Canadian chapter of the JCA purchased farms and made loans to farmers in Ontario and Quebec.