I immigrated to Canada as a preteen. I remember the start of my journey here: my earliest memories of Canada are snow, the holiday season, and some of the more unique things this country has put in place to care for one another as a society. Things like the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP), and a high-functioning public education system were foreign to me. My mother took English as a Second Language from an immigrant services organization that was supported by the local community foundation. The idea of a community foundation was also foreign to me.

The coronavirus pandemic has pushed many organizations across the country into crisis management mode. Our first instincts are to defend and preserve — and later understand and change. But we may not be able to return to our familiar pre-pandemic normality. The crisis has revealed gaps in our essential services, assumptions around work, voices for advocacy, and foresight around changing needs. 

Instead of simply bouncing back to normality, we should leap forward instead.

And we can. Canada has a unique gift, something that the world is envious of. We have had this for some time but for some reason found it difficult to acknowledge and celebrate openly. Now’s the time to be proud of and strengthen our collective imagination and ability to produce innovations that enhance lives. 

The institutions, programs, services, and enterprises, such as the ones I learned about when I first arrived in Canada, are all around us — many are invisible, but they are innovations. Not the kind that are protected by intellectual property or the kind that let a small group of people make a billion dollars. They are innovations that enhance mental, familial, social, and physical well-being. They are innovations that are for all of us — for the community. They are innovations that seek to enhance lives in an equitable way. 

Instead of simply bouncing back to normality, we should leap forward instead.

Compared to when I first arrived in Canada, today’s social impact world is vast. It spans multiple disciplines, sectors, legal structures, and demographics. From the work in digital justice, to housing insecurity, and gender equality, Canada’s social imagination and innovations have become world-renowned. However, in a recent Future of Good opinion piece, Lauren Dobson-Hughes argued that the sector has a stronger, firmer case for support than many industries, and yet most of our recent asks to the federal government are framed as appeals to a better nature. I tend to agree. In a post-pandemic society, I can tell you that innovations that enhance well-being will be the most valuable innovations. And the social impact sector is an innovation sector.

Canadians from every corner of the country are affected by the pandemic. Whether they are urban or rural, young or elderly, profit-maximizing or purpose-driven, now more than ever, they are looking for a more caring, inclusive, sustainable, equitable, and just society. The best part: Canadians will be looking to the social impact sector for vision and leadership to shape the services, programs, enterprises, and institutions that help communities thrive in a new era.  

April 21st is World Creativity and Innovation Day. No doubt, imagination is one of the hardest things to keep alive under pressure, but let’s pause, dig deep, and reconnect to our spirit of imagination and innovation. Think of one creative initiative or project or organization that has enhanced your quality of life or supported vulnerable people in your community — and hold on to that spirit. Solutions are gathering steam all around us. We are reimagining access to food. We are using technology to build community. We are crunching data to match front line needs. We are creating better access to therapists to improve mental health.

Reconnecting to and reigniting our spirit of imagination and innovation won’t be easy, but it will be worthwhile.

Even we optimists at Future of Good know that this pandemic is likely the most complex problem humans have faced in modern history. We know that a lot of what has been lost is never coming back, and to grieve is human. 

Reconnecting to and reigniting our spirit of imagination and innovation won’t be easy, but it will be worthwhile. Communities need it. The world is looking for it. The next generation demands it. 

Vinod Rajasekaran

Publisher & CEO

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