Editorial Fellowship: Social Finance in Canada Suncor Energy Foundation 2023/24

Government of Canada announces three Social Finance Fund wholesalers

The federal government says its plan is to catalyze $2 in private social investment for every $1 spent throughout the $755 million Social Finance Fund’s administration. That’s a huge amount of money for social purpose intermediaries.

How an $18.6 million dollar fund helps community organizations beat speculators and own their own spaces

The real estate crisis is forcing community organizations to devote more and more of their funding to rent at a time when demand for their services is growing. Moving isn’t an option for community-based organizations who need to be where their clientele is, but innovative social finance could provide solutions.

How tax credits and social finance are building a healthy future for Nova Scotians

Canada’s small-scale farmers and food producers face a myriad of challenges, including access to capital. Could community investment funds provide a solution, while also building resilient food systems and healthy people?

A new pilot program aims to encourage equity-crowdfunding — will it work?

Non-profits and co-operatives could be leveraging community bonds and preferred shares to raise capital, but many don’t. A new pilot program in Quebec hopes to change that by matching every dollar invested.

Does shareholder climate activism complement grassroots activism?

Transitioning to a low-carbon economy and society requires buy-in and intentional actions from publicly traded corporations, not just social purpose companies. Shareholders can push for climate action should they choose to exercise their power. Will they?​​

A first: Non-profit ranks in Globe & Mail ranking of Canada’s top-growing companies

Non-profits’ gross domestic product (GDP) was $185.8 billion in 2020, representing nine per cent of Canada’s total GDP. Over the 2010 to 2020 period, the real GDP of non-profit institutions outpaced that of the overall Canadian economy in five out of 11 years. The real GDP of non-profit institutions grew by an annual average of 1.9 per cent over the 11 years, faster than the total economy (+1.5 per cent).

Seven solutions to help non-profit promoters deliver more affordable units

Real estate developers have little to gain from building affordable units. Even when laws force them to include those units in their projects, like Montreal’s 20-20-20 rules, they pay a fine not to do so. Non-profit housing is still the most efficient way to ensure a critical mass of long-term affordable units in a community.

In conversation with Mansib Rahman, co-founder and CEO of Radish

Montreal’s Radish plans to be the first co-op in the world to issue shares. Those shares would not guarantee voting rights, only economic rights. Co-op members would keep all the influence. Will it work? This conversation concerns financial innovation, finance’s role in hyper-local ventures, investors’ extra-financial motivations, and the risk of mixing money and the common good.

Nature Investment Hub hopes to generate $20B for natural land conservation and restoration in Canada

In 2022, the United Nations adopted the first multilaterally agreed definition of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS). This December will see Cop 28, the international conference to assess progress on the 2015 Paris Agreement goals to combat climate change. It will include the launch of the first State of NBS report. NBS can save more CO2 annually than the emissions from the entire global transportation sector and reduce the intensity of climate hazards by 26 per cent.

Canada’s Social Finance Fund’s first investment champions outcomes financing

Over the last decades, a vast amount of federal money has been injected to address socio-economic issues. However, there have yet to be outstanding successes in changing the trajectory of socio-economic indicators, such as overall health, education and environmental issues. Outcomes financing might be a valuable tool to address some of these challenges.

What 2024 holds for social finance

Through solutions journalism, Future of Good highlights what might go right tomorrow and who’s showing the way in the social finance ecosystem. With a critical eye, we keep the reader up-to-date on how finance is being shaped to be a tool, not an end.

UNICEF looks to test its child-lens investing framework

Most investment decisions made by private markets directly and indirectly affect children. But unlike other beneficiaries who can organize and lobby, children are underrepresented in investing analysis and decision-making.

Financial literacy as an antidote to stress

Money is the most significant source of stress for many Canadians—more than work, personal health and relationships. Most Canadians cannot access an employer retirement plan, making retirement planning their responsibility. However, financial literacy can help reduce this tension for many Canadian households, increasing their wellbeing.

The B.C. pilot project that prevents affordable housing loss

Between 2016 and 2021, B.C. lost nearly 100,000 rental units priced below $1,000 monthly. For every new affordable rental home built in B.C., four more are lost to investors, conversions, demolition and rent increases, and new affordable units do not compensate for the loss of existing ones. The situation is similar in every Canadian province.

SVX launches major update to impact investing opportunity database

There is a significant demand for access to impact investing products and there is a greater supply than most investors are familiar with. SVX Impact Index aims to correct this asymmetry.

Q&A: Trottier Foundation head on why they're hiring an inside shareholder engagement director to battle climate change

A shareholder engagement director works with companies on behalf of institutional investors like foundations. Their job is to engage with management and boards to convince businesses to clean up their act. This helps protect investments from climate risk and helps ensure they have a positive impact.

Solutions to triple impact investing in Canada by 2030: new report

The Canadian impact investing industry has grown by 56 per cent since 2015 but still has trouble scaling up, leaving dollars on the table for non-profits.

Q&A: Will Canada follow in Europe's footsteps and regulate greenwashing?

Greenwashing neutralizes climate action and prevents responsible and impact investors from making decisions aligned with their values. Europe now regulates green claims by demanding more sustainability disclosure from companies. U.S. authorities chose a less binding road. Canada is stuck in the middle.

WEBINAR REPLAY: Canadian Black entrepreneurs should create the next Google / Les entrepreneurs noirs canadiens devraient créer le prochain Google

Il n'existe qu'un seul fonds canadien, BKR, pour financer l'entrepreneuriat noir dans le domaine de la technologie. Lorsqu'ils obtiennent un financement, les entrepreneurs noirs reçoivent des prêts, rarement des fonds propres. Le Québécois Wils Theagene estime qu'il est urgent de changer de système et de créer une véritable chaîne de financement pour les entrepreneurs de la communauté noire. There is only one Canadian fund, BKR, to finance Black entrepreneurship in technology. When they get funding, Black entrepreneurs receive loans, rarely equity. Quebec's Wils Theagene sees a pressing need for a system change, creating a real financing chain for entrepreneurs from the Black community.

Blended finance: A Canadian way to raise funds, but happening mainly in Quebec

Thrive Impact Fund is mapping an optimal process for blending different financing (debt, equity, grants) and investors (public, private, philanthropic) around social impact projects. This collaboration and the innovative financial instruments created could significantly change how projects gather funding.