On September 15, Canada’s National Advisory Board to the Social Impact Investment Taskforce launched their report, Mobilizing Private Capital for Public Good: Priorities for Canada
Key recommendations put forward in the report include:
- Enabling impact investment and social entrepreneurship in the charitable and non-profit sector, in particular by updating the Income Tax Act and related guidance, which have not kept pace with these trends.
- Establishing an impact investing matching program, paired with appropriate incentives such as credit enhancements, guarantees and tax advantages, which have been used to good effect to attract investment to other markets in support of public policy priorities.
- Establishing an outcomes payment fund, specifying maximum prices that the government will pay for certain outcomes, allowing the market to respond with innovative solutions. Social service providers, in turn, can gain access to impact investment capital based on the government’s commitment to pay when outcomes are achieved.
The Social Impact Investment Taskforce was established following an announcement by UK Prime Minister David Cameron at the June 2013 G8 Social Impact Investment Forum in London. The Taskforce aims to catalyze the development of the social impact investment market.
The launch event for the report, hosted by the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing (MCII) in Toronto, provided the opportunity for those interested in finance, business or philanthropy to learn about key insights that have emerged from the Social Impact Investment Taskforce and from Canada’s National Advisory Board. The event drew on an international effort that was undertaken last spring to explore the potential for impact investing to address some of society’s most pressing challenges. Attendees will also enjoy opportunities to network with others engaged in the impact investment, social entrepreneurship and non-profit/charitable sectors.
Canada is represented on the Social Impact Investment Taskforce by Tim Jackson, Director of MCII, and Siobhan Harty, Director General of Social Policy, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).
Download the report
Further resources
- Purpose Capital and MCII’s State of the Nation: Impact Investing in Canada (2014)
- E.T. Jackson and Associates’ Accelerating Impact: Achievements, Challenges and What’s Next in Building the Impact Investing Industry (2012, commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation)
- WealthWorks Initiative’s Enterprise Financing for WealthWorks Value Chains: Overview & Guide (2014)
- More resources on finance from our CED toolbox
