English – Page 42 – Canadian CED Network

Up to twenty-five Francophone and bilingual collective businesses in Ontario will be eligible to receive a grant to improve their services thanks to a partnership between the Conseil de la coopération de l’Ontario (CCO), a member of the Canadian CED Network, and Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) under the Ontario Social Impact Vouchers’ program (OSIV).

The OSIV will allow collective entrepreneurs, both social enterprises and cooperatives to create jobs and achieve more social, cultural or environmental impacts on their activities, while adding value to Ontario’s Francophone and bilingual communities.

“With this investment, collective enterprises from all regions in Ontario will be able to reinforce their development by using CCO’s specialized services,” says Julien Geremie, Director of Development at CCO. “As the funds are available as of today, we are ready to work with project developers of interested groups.”

The 25 collective enterprises chosen for the program will also receive specialized support from CCO. Depending on the stage of development of the business during an initial evaluation, CCO’s team may suggest a personalized work plan including a market study, a feasibility study, a business plan or an operation budget.

“The Conseil de la coopération de l’Ontario plays a really important role in the collective enterprises sector,” said Tom Corr, OCE President and CEO. “We had tremendous success during the first year of the OSIV program and we are thrilled to be able to offer support to more collective enterprises with the help of CCO.”

Launched recently by Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) in collaboration with Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development and Growth (MEDG), the OSIV program will provide services and resources through the distribution of up to 200 Social Impact Vouchers with a value of up to $3,000 per voucher to social entrepreneurs and enterprises. The vouchers will be distributed through delivery organizations selected by OCE after an open call and assessment process.

CCO is situated in the heart of a network of more than 300 partners with its three locations in Ottawa, Toronto and Sudbury. CCO is the only organization in Ontario which provides quality services to Francophone and bilingual social enterprises and cooperatives.

Those interested in the program should contact Julien Geremie for further details, julien.geremie at cco.coop

About the Conseil de la coopération de l’Ontario:

The Conseil de la coopération de l’Ontario is the only organization to support the sustainable and economic development of francophone and bilingual cooperatives and social enterprises in Ontario through education, promotion, consultation and services.

For more information, please contact:

Julien Geremie
Director of development
416-364-4545
julien.geremie at cco.coop

Nadine Olivier
Communication Coordinator
705-560-1121 ext. 101
nadine.olivier at cco.coop

SOURCE: The Conseil de la coopération de l’Ontario

On September 20, 2016 the International Leading Group on Social and Solidarity Economy (ILGSSE) held a high-level event organized by France and coordinated by the association The Mont-Blanc Meetings (MBM) – International Forum of the Social and Solidarity Economy Entrepreneurs as permanent secretariat.

In view of the Habitat III Conference, this event gathered high profile actors, including Minister of Families, Children and Social Development of Canada, Jean-Yves Duclos and Yvon Poirier, Secretary of the Canadian CED Network’s Board of Directors, to promote an economy that reconciles environmental, social and economic efficiency, providing multiple solutions coherent with an overall goal of sustainable development.

Follow on Twitter (#ESS #LeadingGroupSSE)

Watch Yvon Poirier’s presentation

Watch the full event recording on WEBTV.UN.ORG

PROGRAMME AND SPEAKERS

SSE as a vector of sustainable urban development

François Hollande, President of the French Republic
Head of States who will attend the event
Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development of Canada
André Vallini, Minister of State for Development and Francophonie of France
José Graziano Da Silva, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Chair of the UN inter-agencies Task-Force on SSE (UNTFSSE)
Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, General Secretary of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Public policies for the Social Solidarity Economy (SSE)

How can local public policies support SSE’s development?

Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montréal and President of Metropolis
Christian Yaccarini, President and CEO of Société de développement Angus (SDA)
Yvon Poirier, Vice-coordinator of the Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS) *Secretary of CCEDNet’s Board of Directors*
Carlos de Freitas, Director of Programs of the Global Fund for Cities Development (FMDV)

Social Solidarity Economy (SSE) for social and economic inclusion, social and environmental justice of cities and human settlements

How does SSE make it possible to build sustainable cities and human settlements and to provide a framework of urban inclusion?

Mercedes Peñas, First Lady of Costa Rica
Gilbert Houngbo, Deputy-Director General for Partnerships and Field Operations of the International Labour Organization (ILO)
Video “The housing cooperatives to access housing in Mali and Senegal”, ADER RIED project, co-financed by the European Union and the French Development Agency (AFD)
Rodrigo Gouveia, Director of Policy of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA)
Elisa Carolina Torrenegra, Latin America Vice-president of the International association of mutual benefit societies (AIM) and Executive Director of Gestarsalud

Social Solidarity Economy (SSE) to finance cities and territories

How does SSE mobilize and generate resources revealing the territorial development potentials?

Maria-Elena Querejazu, Vice-president of the International association of investors in the social economy (INAISE)
Chantal-Line Carpentier, Head of United Nations Conference on Trade And Development’s New York Office (UNCTAD)

Progress on implementing the International Leading Group on Social and Solidarity Economy (ILGSSE) joint declaration: one year later

Abdou Salam Fall, President of the Scientific Committee of the Mont-Blanc Meetings (MBM) – International Forum of the Social and Solidarity Economy Entrepreneurs

Announcement of a declaration from the International Leading Group on Social and Solidarity Economy (ILGSSE)

“SSE: key sector for a sustainable urban development”

Thierry Jeantet, President of the Mont-Blanc Meetings (MBM) – International Forum of the Social and Solidarity Economy Entrepreneurs

Discussion with the audience

Conclusion and acknowledgements

The Ville de Montréal and the Chantier de l’économie sociale, co-organizers of the Global Social Economy Forum – GSEF2016, are proud of this third meeting, which brought together more than 1,400 participants from about 60 countries. In total, some 200 social and solidarity economy (SSE) initiatives from Québec and elsewhere were presented in and around the GSEF2016. Montréal is the first North American host city of the forum since the founding of the GSEF in Seoul in 2013.

At the closing plenary session of the GSEF2016, the mayor of Montréal, Mr. Denis Coderre, unveiled the creation of a new international organization based in Montréal in partnership with Seoul, Mondragón, and Barcelona: the International Centre for Innovation and Knowledge Transfer on the Social and Solidarity Economy (C.I.T.I.E.S.). As a support to the GSEF association and its mission to foster collaboration between local governments and civil society, C.I.T.I.E.S.’ mission will be to facilitate the international dissemination and transmission of practices and knowledge of the social and solidarity economy.

“This centre is, in many regards, an important legacy of this Global Social Economy Forum – GSEF2016. It’s also wonderful news for all cities of the world and for Montréal, which will be able to see its many initiatives spread throughout the world. We are very proud to host this new organization. We believe that cities are always on the cutting edge of the future and that the social economy, by mobilizing collective entrepreneurship, is a key tool for the development of urban centres,” said Mr. Coderre.

GSEF2016 Declaration in Montreal: 6 Resolutions for the Sustainable Development of Cities

“All participants reaffirmed the importance of making the social economy’s collective knowledge accessible to help face the growing challenges of the 21^st century with the dissemination of information, the exchange of best practices, and the mutual support that can extend to financial assistance. To this end, four resolutions were drafted that express the international solidarity of SSE organizations,” said Mr. Jean-Martin Aussant, executive director of the Chantier de l’économie sociale.

The participants of the GSEF2016 Forum in Montréal are committed to working on the sustainable development of cities and to:

Recognize the central role of SSE organizations to overcome the current challenges and to promote a renewed participatory democracy
Multiply participatory governance spaces
Build an inclusive movement for all men and women of all ages and origins.
Build public-private-community partnerships to meet the needs and aspirations of our communities
Share our visions, experiences and achievements to promote social innovation, including through CITIES, a strategic partner of GSEF
Recognize and support youth as important actors for the future of the SSE movement.

Toward the GSEF2018

The GSEF Association met today in its General Assembly where they, among other items, agreed on the location of the next Forum. The SSE community will meet again in two years to take stock of the situation and discuss the best practices to adopt to ensure that the SSE takes its place alongside the private and public sectors.

“I hope that the commitment to the SSE mentioned in the Montréal Declaration makes a significant contribution that allows us to find solutions to the challenges that we all face,” said Mr. Park Won Soon, mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Seoul and GSEF co-chair. I am pleased to announce that the city of Bilbao, Spain, has been chosen to host the GSEF2018. Bilbao, the economic capital of the Basque Country, is a model that will certainly inspire many other large cities by encouraging them to join the movement and make the social and solidarity economy a priority,” he added.

Ms. Dominique Anglade, Minister of Economy, Science and Innovation, and Minister Responsible for the Digital Strategy for Quebec stated : “The Government of Québec is very active in the development of the social economy. The Government Social Economy Action Plan 2015–2020 will direct our actions in this area over the next few years. This plan contains concrete measures to help collective enterprises at all steps of their growth so that they can fully contribute to Québec’s socioeconomic development,” stated.

Minister of Families, Children and Social Development for Canada, Mr. Jean-Yves Duclos concluded with, “I would like to congratulate all participants and the organizers of this forum. It was a tremendous success. Clearly, the discussions that took place here have been productive and fruitful. What is important now is that these ideas develop and gain traction in contemporary thought.”

The global social economy forum – GSEF2016 has been made possible thanks to the financial participation of the Government ofCanada, the Government of Québec, and affiliated partners.

About the Global Social Economy Forum (GSEF)

The Global Social Economy Forum (GSEF) is an international association bringing together local governments and civil society stakeholders committed to supporting the development of the social and solidarity economy (SSE). Its mission is to promote cooperation among social and solidarity economy organizations and local governments to stimulate the creation of quality jobs, equitable growth, and the advancement of participatory democracy and sustainable development. During the association’s founding meeting in 2013, its members issued a declaration laying out their intentions and objectives. In 2014, members adopted a charter establishing its principles and operations, including the holding of a forum every two years.

The first two editions of the GSEF took place in Seoul in 2013 and 2014 respectively and each brought more than 1,000 people together.

Social Media: #GSEF2016
Facebook: Gsef2016
Twitter: @gsef2016

*** GSEF2016 photos are available here: http://bit.ly/2cpntKm

For further information: Amély Tremblay/Mélodie Ménard/Isabelle Paquette, Morin Relations Publiques, amely at morinrp.com / melodie at morinrp.com / isabelle at morinrp.com, 514 774-8522 / 514 561-1966 / 514 581-8981

SOURCE: CNW Newswire

Ontario’s social entrepreneurs and enterprises are being actively encouraged to create jobs and attract investment while promoting positive social and environmental impacts through the new Ontario Social Impact Voucher (OSIV) program.

Launched by Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) in collaboration with Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development and Growth (MEDG), the OSIV program will provide services and resources through the distribution of up to 200 Social Impact Vouchers with a value of up to $3,000 per voucher to social entrepreneurs and enterprises. The vouchers will be distributed through delivery organizations selected by OCE after an open call and assessment process.

OCE President & CEO Dr. Tom Corr says the success of the pilot bodes well for the future of the program.

“This program is all about partnering with government to give opportunities to promising social entrepreneurs and allowing them to literally take their ideas and transform them into experience which creates viable, scalable, socially conscious businesses here in Ontario.”

Interested social entrepreneurs and enterprises will apply for entrepreneurship skills training and knowledge-building opportunities via AccessOCE, OCE’s online application system. OSIV program vouchers will flow directly to the delivery organizations and be redeemed by the selected social entrepreneurs and enterprises. Following the model established by the pilot program, social entrepreneurs and enterprises applying for a voucher must seek endorsement from a member of the ONE network such as a Regional Innovation Centre (RIC), Campus-Linked Accelerator (CLA), Small Business Enterprise Centre (SBEC), On-Campus Entrepreneurship Activities (OCEA), or an OCE Business Development Manager.

Ontario’ Minister of Economic Development and Growth Brad Duguid says the expansion of the program is a natural fit for both OCE and the province.

“Social enterprises contribute to Ontario’s economy and their growth is a key part of our government’s long-term economic plan. Through initiatives like the Ontario Social Impact Voucher program, we’re doing our best to create the right environment for social enterprises so that these profitable and positive businesses can generate jobs in our communities and contribute to a dynamic economic climate.”

Earlier this year, OCE invited organizations with expertise in social enterprise development to apply as service providers. The following were selected:

Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation, Wilfrid Laurier University
80-20 Growth Corporation
PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise *a member of the Canadian CED Network*
Centre for Social Innovation
Impact Hub Ottawa
MaRS Centre for Impact Investing (MCII)
The Conseil de la coopération de l’Ontario *a member of the Canadian CED Network*
Centre for Innovative Social Enterprise Development
Community Innovation Lab

The deadline for social enterprises applying for vouchers is July 31, 2017. OSIV is managed by OCE on behalf of MEDG.

Find out more details on the Ontario Social Impact Voucher Program

About Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Inc. (www.oce-ontario.org)
Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) drives the commercialization of cutting-edge research to build the economy of tomorrow and secure Ontario’s global competitiveness. OCE fosters the training and development of the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs and is a key partner with Ontario’s industry, universities, colleges, research hospitals, domestic and foreign investors, and government ministries. A champion of leading-edge technologies, best practices, innovation, entrepreneurship and research, OCE invests in such areas as advanced health, information and communications technology, digital media, advanced materials and manufacturing, agri-food, aerospace, transportation, energy, and the environment including water and mining. OCE is a key partner in delivering Ontario’s Innovation Agenda as a member of the province’s Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE), which helps Ontario-based entrepreneurs and industry rapidly grow their company and create jobs. Learn more at www.onebusiness.ca

For further information: Contact Program Lead Natalia Lobo at Natalia.Lobo at oce-ontario.org or 416-861-1092 ext. 1061.

SOURCE: CNW Newswire

Today, CCEDNet Board President Ryan Gibson and Executive Director Michael Toye met with the Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development.

His department, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), is responsible for many areas of particular interest to CCEDNet members, including a national poverty reduction strategy, labour market transfer agreements and employment development programs, a national housing strategy, the creation of a national disabilities act, and the creation of a social innovation and social finance strategy.

The meeting was a valuable opportunity to highlight the innovative work being done by CCEDNet members throughout the country and the many points of alignment with federal government priorities. Key points discussed at the meeting included:

The announcement made by Minister Duclos two days earlier at the Global Social Economy Forum regarding the creation of a steering committee on Social Innovation and Social Finance, and CCEDNet’s track record in co-construction of public policy, dating back to the Social Economy Roundtable as part of Paul Martin’s federal social economy initiative. We reviewed recommendations for the development of the strategy, and noted two significant upcoming events – the Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise in Winnipeg in May, and the next national CED conference in Calgary in the fall of 2017 – as opportunities for consultations or milestones related to the national strategy on social innovation and social finance.
CCEDNet’s recommendations to Minister Bains, reinforcing the federal department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development’s (ISED) interest in social innovation and social enterprise as part of the Inclusive Innovation Agenda. Our conversation explored some of the most promising prospects for scaling up social enterprise support within ISED, and the importance of close collaboration between ESDC and ISED.
CED and social enterprise as a tool for labour market attachment, including recommendations submitted to the Forum of Labour Market Ministers and the example of the Manitoba Social Enterprise Strategy, which is focused on job creation for job creation for people with multiple barriers to employment.
CCEDNet members’ track record on poverty reduction in many of the cities identified as part of the ‘Tackling Poverty Together‘ project.
CCEDNet’s pre-budget recommendations submitted in our brief to the House of Commons Finance Committee.

We look forward to continuing the dialogue with Minister Duclos and collaborating with ESDC on our many files of common interest.

New support to create jobs, attract investment, diversify local economies

As part of the Alberta Jobs Plan, the provincial government is giving support to municipalities and organizations to work together on economic development projects that diversify and grow local economies.

Through the new Community and Regional Economic Support (CARES) program, communities in every corner of the province will have access to $30 million over two years. The money will help pay for locally developed projects that promote long-term economic growth and diversification, particularly projects that communities and municipalities could not necessarily fund on their own.

Money is being distributed in several ways, including:

Up to $26.45 million for communities, regions, municipalities and other eligible organizations;
$2.2 million for Regional Economic Development Alliances to enhance existing initiatives;
$600,000 for four Rural Alberta Business Centres to support 2016-17 operations; and
$750,000 for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo to support the Back to Business Resource Centre and business recovery expos in Fort McMurray.

“Business and community leaders across the province helped us create the Alberta Jobs Plan. This new support will put homegrown projects and economic development plans into action and help ensure Alberta’s cities and towns continue to be Canada’s best places to do business.”
– Deron Bilous, Minister of Economic Development and Trade

Municipalities, communities and organizations can apply for grants through the CARES program online starting Oct. 1 for projects that:

Improve the local business environment and regional economic collaboration;
Provide more support for entrepreneurs to grow and succeed;
Support industries with a strong potential to diversify; and
Attract investment that drives high-value job creation.

Grant funding through the CARES program is available through two streams:

A community economic development stream which focuses on building local economic development capacity; and
A regional economic development stream which focuses on promoting collaborative regional development with impacts beyond any individual community.

“This support from the Province will go a long way towards enabling communities and regions to undertake economic development initiatives that will assist local entrepreneurs and established businesses in accessing new partnerships and markets that will help them grow their business.”
– Jay Slemp, Chair, Palliser Economic Partnership

The CARES Program will have three grant application intake periods, with the first one beginning on Oct. 1, 2016 and ending Nov. 30, 2016. For more information on program eligibility criteria and how to apply, visit the CARES program webpage.

Originally published by the Government of Alberta on September 7, 2016

Additional Information

CARES program
CARES program fact sheet (pdf)
Alberta Jobs Plan
Alberta launches $30M program to push regional economic development, Edmonton Journal, September 7, 2016

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, has announced the Tackling Poverty Together Project which will inform the development of new Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy.

This project will consist of conducting case studies in six communities to provide a regional perspective as well as a broader understanding of poverty in communities across the country. It will also allow the Government to hear directly from Canadians living in poverty and learn from organizations who deliver poverty reduction programs.

The Tackling Poverty Together Project will start in Saint John, New Brunswick, in the coming months. This work will subsequently take place in Trois-Rivières, Toronto, Winnipeg, Yellowknife and Tisdale.

“With the development of a Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy underway, we are taking an important step towards reducing poverty in Canada. This is how we will realize our vision of a diverse, prosperous and truly inclusive country—a country where everyone can realize their full potential.”
– The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development

SOURCE: Employment and Social Development Canada

More Information

Six cities chosen as test sites for national anti-poverty strategy, published September 2, 2016 by Merto News
Liberals’ Anti-Poverty Strategy: 6 Cities Chosen As Test Sites, published September 2, 2016 by Huffington Post
Minister Duclos’ speech in St. John, NB, announcing the project

It’s been a long, long time since it was a novel insight to say “a penny of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” But no matter how common the concepts of root causes and preventive or upstream investments become, our institutions have not scaled these investments to the levels our communities need.

This problem frustrates many social enterprise leaders in Manitoba. The impact their work is having on individuals’ lives and neighbourhoods results in significant, compounding returns to our communities and all levels of government. A recent Social Return On Investment evaluation initiated by the Province of Manitoba found social enterprises contracting with Manitoba Housing provided an economic return of $2.23 : $1. When someone with multiple barriers to employment is provided a job opportunity with the necessary supports, all Manitobans benefit: families are united, a pathway out of poverty emerges, communities become stabilized, and the strain on our justice, health and social assistance systems is reduced.

But we are not seeing significant investments in the opportunities presented by social enterprise leaders. This is the challenge that motivates our release of “Funding Revolutions: A model for addressing the challenges of upstream investment in human services.” As a recommendation of the Manitoba Social Enterprise Strategy, this report puts forward a model that has the potential to support social enterprises to seize the opportunities they see.

Download the Funding Revolutions Full Report

Download the Funding Revolutions Report Summary

There is growing consensus across the political spectrum that it is more cost effective to invest in preventing social problems, before crisis occurs, than it is to invest in addressing the problem further down the road. However, significant barriers prevent this from happening. Some of the challenges highlighted in this report include:

The benefits of a Department X’s preventive investment may end up in Department Y’s budget, therefore Department X doesn’t have an incentive to make the preventive investment.
The time it takes for preventive investments to demonstrate their savings to government is longer than the volatile, political budget cycle.

The report, completed by Purpose Capital, addresses these challenges while presenting a model for making upstream investments in human services through a publicly-financed, pay-for-success investment fund, specifically designed to invest in innovative, preventive initiatives. Centrally located in the provincial government, the fund would be in a unique position to make investments that consider savings to government as a whole, avoiding the challenge of an investment coming from one department and generating savings for another. The fund would be a revolving fund, meaning the savings it creates for departments through its investments would replenish the fund . The result would be greater resources towards prevention, at a scale much greater than the status quo.

The model proposed here goes beyond social enterprise. Innovations in fields such as education and healthcare are well within the scope of investment opportunities for this fund. We’re glad to contribute this research to the dialogue and practice surrounding preventive investments, and encourage the Manitoba government to invest in the opportunities our social enterprise practitioners see.

Download the Funding Revolutions Full Report

Download the Funding Revolutions Report Summary

Originally published by Social Enterprise Manitoba on September 1, 2016

Darcy Penner is a Social Enterprise Policy & Program Manager with the Canadian CED Network. He has been working in community economic development since graduating from the University of Winnipeg with a BA (Honours) degree in Politics. Starting at CCEDNet in 2013, his role has seen him work with member-organizations to pursue a broad policy agenda through workshops, presentations, budget submissions, policy papers and community-organizing, while specializing in supportive social enterprise policy and research – including coordinating the Manitoba Social Enterprise Sector Survey and the Manitoba Social Enterprise Strategy being co-created with the Province of Manitoba. Darcy was also a contributing author to the Alternative Municipal Budget for CCEDNet-Manitoba.

With little fanfare the Federal government has taken a major step forward this week in supporting the social enterprise sector – providing clarity on a definition and supporting the development of a national directory.

The directory defines social enterprise as “an enterprise that seeks to achieve social, cultural or environmental aims through the sale of goods and services. The social enterprise can be for-profit or not-for-profit but the majority of net profits must be directed to a social objective with limited distribution to shareholders and owners.”

Register your organization in the Directory of Canadian Social Enterprises

The Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development’s definition is clearly signalling that from their perspective a social enterprise has to blend a community impact and ensure the majority of profits are also reinvested in community. Rather than looking at a corporate structure, they have opted for a performance based model, which allows several different corporate forms to be included – if the purpose and the structure both align with and meet this definition.

What it doesn’t allow is a company that has a good CSR program or donates a percentage of profits to charity to claim social enterprise ‘status’. Just being a ‘good’ company or a valued corporate citizen, or using social washing in marketing, doesn’t make you a social enterprise. But, if your purpose is to create social value and your structure commits the majority of your profits to a community development goal, you do have the opportunity to register on this directory.

The directory will be a valuable tool for social enterprises to identify with a defined model, allow purchasers to know how to find social enterprise suppliers, and raise awareness on the website of the strength and value of the sector. The definition includes social impact, like employment for persons with barriers; it includes cultural impact, like so many of our local arts and theatre groups; and environmental impact, like community owned alternative energy.

There is no monitoring body or gatekeepers, so we will all have to be diligent to insure social enterprises that meet the criteria are posted and asking others that are not meeting the definition to use other directories, like CSR lists, Fair Trade and B Corps certification websites.

Without a doubt the social enterprise definition debate will continue. Some people will think this definition too broad, others will think it too narrow… but that is all right in my mind – because this step definitely contributes to the real discussion — social enterprise is a means to build a social value market place that contributes to creating healthy communities.

Originally published August 27, 2016 by Accelerating Social Impact CCC

David LePage is a Principal with Accelerating Social Impact CCC, Ltd. (ASI), one of Canada’s first ever hybrid corporations. ASI CCC was created to serve and promote the emerging blended value business and social finance sectors. David works as a consultant, trainer and advisor with a cross section of social enterprises, social purpose businesses and social impact investors. He is a founder of Buy Social Canada, an initiative to promote social purchasing and social enterprise certification.

David is the Chair of the Social Enterprise Council of Canada. He serves as a Program Adjunct to the Sandermoen School of Business MBA in Social Enterprise Leadership. He is a member of the Social Enterprise World Forum Steering Group, the Canadian CED Network’s Policy Council, Imagine Canada’s Advisory Committee, and the BC Partners for Social Impact. He is also a Board member of the Vancouver Farmer’s Market and a Board member of Ethelo Decisions. David is the former Team Manager of enp-BC and played a lead role in the development of enp-Canada.

The Canadian CED Network’s Policy Council submitted a response to the federal government’s invitation for recommendations for Labour Market Transfer Agreements (LMTA). The submission focused our recommendations on how the government can implement the measures it has already committed to undertaking in ways that will maximize their impact and value for communities.

Read our submission to the Forum of Labour Market Ministers

If you also submitted a brief we’d love to include it below…
Please send your LMTA recommendations to Matthew Thompson at mthompson at ccednet-rcdec.ca.

Our Recommendations for Labour Market Transfer Agreements:

IMPACT
1. Include wrap around services in the scope of activities that are eligible for funding to help under-represented groups integrate into the labour market
2. Remove funding targets (i.e. the mandated percentage of transfer dollars to be allocated to the Canada Job Grant (CJG) program each year), so that provinces and territories are able to allocate transfer dollars to a wider range of programs, including self-employment programs
3. Ensure flexibility in program length to help under-represented groups integrate the labour market
4. Reinstate the original policy objectives of the former LMAs and ensure the flexibility required so that funding can be used to train and hire equity seeking groups in infrastructure projects
5. Extend funding to address the service gap that exists when jobseekers with barriers to employment transition out of training and into employment
INNOVATE
1. Build on the success of work-integration social enterprises
2. Expand the use of Social Procurement and Community Benefit Agreements
3. Broaden the definition of successful outcomes
4. Support broader community engagement and local level decision-making
INFORM
1. Emphasize evaluation and communication of results in funded programs

Recommendations from CCEDNet Members

Written Submission from CEDEC

Recommendations:

Develop workshops, tools, and training to allow vulnerable groups to become aware of their potential and develop it.
Establish awareness workshops to sensitize employers to the benefits of hiring vulnerable groups.
Promote labour market opportunities in Quebec to English speakers in a targeted manner.
Match English speakers with concrete labour market opportunities.
Promote opportunities for entrepreneurship and self-employment.
Support the creation of small and medium enterprises through entrepreneurship training initiatives.
Strengthen the alignment between forecasted labour market demand in Quebec and forecasted supply from Quebec’s English-speaking labour force (provincially, regionally, locally, by industry and by occupation).
Develop a strategic labour force development approach that centralizes analytics, strategy development.
Coordinate and decentralize labour market information dissemination and service provision.
Develop an electronic Labour Market Forecaster for Bilingual Employment in Quebec and Employment Connector Tables.
Foster a more supportive culture for English speakers by lowering language proficiency regulations and sensitizing employers to English-speaking candidates.

Written Submission from Momentum