First Bite Fund launches as Ottawa puts $1 billion behind domestic food processing
New revenue‑based loan fund aims to reach the 92% of food processors that conventional capital has overlooked
Social Finance and Giving
Latest in Social Finance and Giving
New database maps Canada’s $17.3 billion DAF landscape and where philanthropic wealth is concentrated
A new database is highlighting Canada’s donor-advised fund landscape in an effort to increase transparency, but not all sector leaders believe the tool will have that effect.
Edmonton housing fund uses values-aligned, blended financing to create affordable homes
The Housing Prosperity Fund combines values-aligned financing, community investment and family-focused housing to create a model it hopes can scale across Canada.
Case Study: Kingston’s food bank pilot combines three innovative solutions for food insecurity
Carney’s National Food Strategy includes boosting local food production. Pilots are already deployed. The federal strategy is arriving to meet it, not lead it.
How foundations responded to the 2004-2005 disbursement quota reduction – and why it matters now
Research from Carleton University, based on foundations’ T3010 data between 2000 and 2017, tells a story of how foundations adjusted their disbursements when the disbursement quota was reduced from 4.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent.
Explainer: What Realize Fund I’s final close says about the state of Canada’s social finance
Ottawa bet $400 million that public capital could build a private market for Canada's social economy. Realize Fund I's $276.7M close is the first real test.
Inspirit Foundation’s 100% impact portfolio outperforms benchmark over 10-year period
Inspirit Foundation became the only Canadian foundation to successfully transition 100 per cent of its assets to impact investment in 2022. Since the foundation first made the commitment in 2016, its portfolio has made higher returns than a traditional portfolio would.
Explainer: Modelled after B.C.’s success, Quebec is building its first province-wide rent bank network
Rent banks are one of the few homelessness‑prevention tools that intervene before a crisis, stabilizing tenants at a fraction of the cost of emergency shelters or rehousing
Montreal Sustainable Finance Summit: Inequality makes its way onto companies’ financial risk disclosures
The launch of the TISFD signals that social risk is no longer peripheral to financial stability, but is the next major test of whether markets can adapt to a world in crisis
Done improperly, impact investing can cause more harm than good: Advocates
At the Catalyst: Community Finance Summit in Winnipeg, leaders warned that poorly designed impact‑investing practices can retraumatize clients, distort ecosystems, and delay essential funding
New database maps Canada’s $17.3 billion DAF landscape and where philanthropic wealth is concentrated
A new database is highlighting Canada’s donor-advised fund landscape in an effort to increase transparency, but not all sector leaders believe the tool will have that effect.
Edmonton housing fund uses values-aligned, blended financing to create affordable homes
The Housing Prosperity Fund combines values-aligned financing, community investment and family-focused housing to create a model it hopes can scale across Canada.
Case Study: Kingston’s food bank pilot combines three innovative solutions for food insecurity
Carney’s National Food Strategy includes boosting local food production. Pilots are already deployed. The federal strategy is arriving to meet it, not lead it.
How foundations responded to the 2004-2005 disbursement quota reduction – and why it matters now
Research from Carleton University, based on foundations’ T3010 data between 2000 and 2017, tells a story of how foundations adjusted their disbursements when the disbursement quota was reduced from 4.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent.
Explainer: What Realize Fund I’s final close says about the state of Canada’s social finance
Ottawa bet $400 million that public capital could build a private market for Canada's social economy. Realize Fund I's $276.7M close is the first real test.
Inspirit Foundation’s 100% impact portfolio outperforms benchmark over 10-year period
Inspirit Foundation became the only Canadian foundation to successfully transition 100 per cent of its assets to impact investment in 2022. Since the foundation first made the commitment in 2016, its portfolio has made higher returns than a traditional portfolio would.
Explainer: Modelled after B.C.’s success, Quebec is building its first province-wide rent bank network
Rent banks are one of the few homelessness‑prevention tools that intervene before a crisis, stabilizing tenants at a fraction of the cost of emergency shelters or rehousing
Montreal Sustainable Finance Summit: Inequality makes its way onto companies’ financial risk disclosures
The launch of the TISFD signals that social risk is no longer peripheral to financial stability, but is the next major test of whether markets can adapt to a world in crisis
Done improperly, impact investing can cause more harm than good: Advocates
At the Catalyst: Community Finance Summit in Winnipeg, leaders warned that poorly designed impact‑investing practices can retraumatize clients, distort ecosystems, and delay essential funding
