Today, with great excitement, we officially launched the Manitoba Social Enterprise Strategy: A Strategy for Creating Jobs Through Social Enterprise. A community-led initiative co-created by the Canadian CED Network – Manitoba and the Province of Manitoba, this document is a comprehensive collection of concrete policy and program recommendations to support non-profits creating jobs and training opportunities for people with barriers to employment.

Social enterprises are non-profit organizations that use a business model to realize social, cultural and environmental outcomes, such as fostering a more sustainable environment, providing important community services like child care, generating revenue for non-profits, or as this strategy is focused on, creating jobs and training opportunities for people with barriers to employment.

By connecting multi-barriered individuals to a comprehensive program of social supports and job training, social enterprises have proved effective at providing a sustainable pathway toward prosperity, while reducing poverty and crime, growing our labour market, increasing our tax base and decreasing the costs associated with health care, justice and social services.

The road to today’s launch began in the fall of 2013, when CCEDNet – Manitoba members passed a policy resolution calling on the Province of Manitoba to co-create and co-produce a sector strategy for social enterprises focused on creating training and job opportunities for people with barriers to employment. The Province responded in Budget 2014 with a commitment to support the development of a sector strategy, and shortly after a steering committee was struck, comprised of half community members and half government representatives.

Download the Manitoba Social Enterprise Strategy

Over the past eight months, CCEDNet – Manitoba has conducted broad research on best-practice, completed a Provincial program review, hosted consultations with social enterprise stakeholders in Manitoba, received expert advice from British Columbia to Scotland, and repeatedly took progressing drafts of the document to the community for feedback. The result is a thorough list of policy and program recommendations, finely tuned to the strengths and opportunities of the Manitoba social enterprise sector.

Increasing the amount or scale of social enterprise alone is not a panacea for our complex community challenges. The incidence of poverty and unemployment in our province is an issue that needs dedicated and ongoing action that includes but is by no means limited to growing social enterprises — without continued investments in our communities in areas such as affordable housing and child care, the potential for social enterprise will not be realized.

However, it is our sincere belief that by implementing the recommendations within the MSES, we will see more supportive jobs created and more pathways out of poverty realized. Communities in Manitoba have identified this approach as one way they can succeed, and this is one way that we can support community-led and -owned opportunities.

Today is a day to celebrate; tomorrow we get back to work. We look forward to partnering with stakeholders from various sectors across the province to implement the recommendations within this strategy, and look to the Province to signal its commitment to the strategy through investments within Budget 2015.

Together, we can ensure that more Manitobans who want to work have access to the training and employment opportunities they need, and a pathway can be forged to break the vicious poverty cycle too many of our community-members face.

The video below introduces one of Manitoba’s successful social enterprises, BUILD, a member of the Canadian CED Network. More examples can be found among our Profiles of CED in Manitoba.

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Darcy Penner is a Research & Policy Advisor with the Canadian CED Network. He has been working in community development through various capacities since graduating from the University of Winnipeg with a BA (Honours) in Politics.

Darcy was also a contributing author to the Alternative Municipal Budget for CCEDNet-Manitoba.

Proposals are now being accepted to host the 2016 National CCEDNet Conference!  Any CCEDNet members and partners interested in hosting the 2016 conference are invited to submit a proposal. 

Host selection criteria

1. Capacity to organise a major bilingual national event
2. Local mobilization potential
3. Resources that can be leveraged for the event

Information required in the proposal

1. Proposed conference title and theme(s)
2. Reasons for interest
3. Demonstrate your experience and capacity to organize a major bilingual event
4. Positive impacts for the community and region
5. Local partners/mobilization strategy
6. Resources committed or anticipated, including in-kind organizing capacity by hosts and partners, as well as cash contributions by conference sponsors and funders
7. Local initiatives/innovations to showcase
8. Recommended venues able to accommodate up to 400 participants and 12 breakout sessions.

A supplementary document with background information on previous conferences and typical responsibilities of CCEDNet and host partners is available upon request by emailing

Completed proposals must be sent by February 28, 2015 to 

The successful host for the 2016 event will be announced in spring 2015.

If you have any questions feel free to contact Michael Toye at mtoye at ccednet-rcdec.ca

Our current story is about Sacred Money and Markets. Money, it tells us, is the measure of all worth and the source of all happiness. The market is omniscient. Earth is simply a source of raw materials. Inequality and environmental destruction are unfortunate but unavoidable. Although many recognize this story promotes bad ethics, bad science, and bad economics, it will remain our guiding story until replaced by a more compelling story that aligns with our deepest understanding of the universe and our relationship to it.

A Sacred Life and Living Earth story is grounded in a cosmology that affirms we are living beings born of a living Earth itself born of a living universe. Our health and well-being depend on an economy that works in co-productive partnership with the processes by which Earth’s community of life maintains the conditions of its own existence—and ours. Offering a hopeful vision, this book lays out the transformative impact adopting this story will have on every aspect of human life and society.

Release Date: February 2, 2015

Order the book

David C. Korten is a cofounder and board chair of YES! Magazine, co-chair of the New Economy Working Group, founder and president of the Living Economies Forum, a member of the Club of Rome, a founding board member emeritus of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, a former Associate of the International Forum on Globalization, and a former Harvard Business School professor.

Watch the book launch at All Saints Church in Pasadena, Jan 25, 2015

Affordable housing has long been a community priority. Individuals and families need stable housing to access social services and succeed in training or employment. The province has added more than 3,000 new social and affordable-housing units since 2009, and has increased annual investments in repairs and maintenance tenfold in the last decade. While these investments have helped meet some of the need, more social housing — particularly larger family units with more than three bedrooms — is required.

This is a key recommendation found in The View from Here 2015: Manitobans Call for a Renewed Poverty Reduction Plan being released today in Winnipeg. To address persistent poverty in this province, community groups have outlined this plan, which utilizes the work of on-the-ground experts and recent research. The findings are supported by over 90 organizations across the province. It builds on earlier recommendations we put forward in 2009.

Given the ever-increasing costs of rent and inadequate welfare rates, in 2009 we recommended increasing the shelter allowance for those on employment and income assistance (EIA). The province responded in 2014 with a new income benefit to be phased in over four years, which provides people on EIA and the working poor with more help to pay their rent. Community groups are calling for this new benefit to be implemented immediately.

In 2009, we recommended increases to the minimum wage. Although the province has continued with regular increases, stronger action is needed — a job should help lift people out of poverty and not perpetuate it. Currently two-parent families with two children who are working full time at minimum wage live below the poverty line. The province is integrating training and hiring for marginalized populations into public infrastructure projects. It is also working with the community on a strategy to grow social enterprises. These non-profit businesses successfully train, hire and support people shut out of the workforce because of issues like a criminal record, a disability, or lack of formal education. A financial commitment is needed to implement this new social-enterprise strategy and bring more low-income Manitobans into the labour market.

Poverty reduction cannot just be about jobs and better wages. We need investment in public services such as health care, early learning and childcare. While the province has made great progress on creating childcare spaces, the existing supply is not meeting demand.

People also need community-led services that address complex challenges such as addictions, mental illness and low literacy levels. The province provides multi-year funding to organizations that deliver these social services in the communities where low-income people live. This support should be expanded to more organizations providing effective wrap-around services.

Many are disappointed Manitoba’s poverty rates are still too high, but statistics do not immediately respond to changes in government policy. Manitobans who work with individuals and families in poverty witness incremental effects daily and are confident we are on the right path.

They know many Manitobans would be worse off had investments in recent years not been made and that even bolder action is needed if we are going to see more significant improvements. We need the province to build on investments that are making a difference.

Today’s release of The View From Here 2015 provides a renewed package of comprehensive actions for reducing poverty.

The report is based on research and consultations with individuals and organizations who know what works. This comprehensive approach will help reduce increasing costs in health care, justice, social assistance and child-welfare systems as poverty is inextricably linked to these systems. Community groups hope this plan will provide a renewed foundation for future government action to reduce poverty in Manitoba.

Download the report

Originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press on January 30, 2015

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Kirsten Bernas is Research and Policy Manager with CCEDNet in Manitoba. She received a BA (Honours) in Economics from the University of Manitoba as well as an MA from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa. Kirsten represents CCEDNet on the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives‘ Alternative Federal Budget Steering Committee, Make Poverty History Canada’s Steering Committee, and the Right to Housing Coalition‘s Provincial Committee.

Our world is based on nested dependencies (see work by Bob Doppelt, Peter Senge as well as Bob Willard). The environment is all-encompassing with society being nested in the environment and in turn business being nested within the environment and society.

I have often used a quote from Björn Stigson, former President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) – it is as follows: “Business cannot succeed in societies that fail. Likewise, where and when business is stifled, societies fail to thrive.”

Societies can fail due to economic, social and/or environmental reasons so a balance and a relationship among these elements needs to be understood in order to achieve real wealth creation today and for future generations.

Being a father of three children, I tend to have a future-oriented focus. What will the world be like in the years ahead for my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren?

Check out other posts in this series: • Mike Sandmel • Pallavi Roy • Alex Wood • Charles Montgomery • Todd Scaletta

I am fortunate that my role at Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) allows me to explore, develop and test forward-thinking ideas that can help position the accounting profession to effectively address sustainability issues. As Peter Bakker, current President of WBCSD, has famously stated on numerous occasions “Accountants will save the world.” The competencies of professional accountants can be invaluable to organizations seeking to be more sustainable.

I had the fortune of meeting Paul Hawken, author of “The Ecology of Commerce”, and I asked him: “Do sustainability issues need to be measured in order to be effectively managed?” Paul’s response was “Yes, they need to be measured in order to be managed but they do not need to be monetized in order to be managed.”

Organizations, no matter their size or the sector in which they operate, can benefit by focusing on sustainability. The practice can help to better identify and understand key risks, opportunities and stakeholders. Effective measurement then allows the organization to determine if its goals are being achieved.

I live in Winnipeg and the city provides an excellent example of a sustainability effort. A website that was developed with resources from the International Institute of Sustainable Development and United Way Winnipeg is called MyPeg (www.mypeg.ca). This website provides the user with economic, environmental and social data about Winnipeg in order to track and inspire transformation to a more vibrant and thriving city. Having the necessary data accessible in order to measure and manage sustainability initiatives is critical for success but what is ultimately required is action. However, to achieve the goal of a more vibrant city, the strategies and visions of residents, community groups, business leaders, politicians and others must align.  Society, business and the environment are always interconnected.

For many organizations, taking that first step toward sustainable practices and management is often difficult. I am glad to be part of a profession that is actively trying to help organizations focus on sustainability and effectively address the challenges that lie ahead.

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CPA Canada’s Director for Research, Guidance and Support Todd Scaletta, MBA, CMA, FCMA, C.Dir, has over 30 years of management accounting experience in various sectors including construction, education, financial services, not-for-profit and real estate. Todd leads the conceptualization, formulation, and distribution of Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada)’s research related to sustainability. Todd represents CPA Canada on the Accounting Bodies Network (ABN), International Federation of Accountants Committee (IFAC)’s Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB), and the Consortium for Advanced Management – International (CAM-I) Sustainability Interest Group. He has written articles on sustainability from a management accountant’s perspective and has presented at several international conferences throughout North America on the subject of environmental sustainability.

This blog is part of the ‘Voices of New Economies‘ series within Cities for People – an experiment in advancing the movement toward urban resilience and livability through connecting innovation networks.

The Voices of New Economies series is collectively curated by One Earth and The Canadian CED Network.

This series is an exploration of what it takes to build the economies we need – ones that work for people, places, and the planet. We are connecting key actors, finding patterns, noting interesting differences, and highlighting key concepts and initiatives. Together, this series offers insights into the new economies movement as it develops.