It’s time for a Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy for Canada.

In 2017, the Government of Canada created the Social Innovation & Social Finance Strategy Co-Creation Steering Group. The group provided 12 recommendations to advance social innovation and mobilize social finance in Canada. In November 2018, the Fall Economic Statement from the federal government outlined a proposed $755M Social Finance Fund to invest into socially innovative projects.

Here are the 12 Recommendations:

1. Governance and Public Service Infrastructure. Anchor commitment and long-term policy action toward social innovation and social finance in Canada through federal framework legislation.

2. Governance and Public Service Infrastructure. Establish and fund a permanent multi-sectoral Social Innovation Council.

3. Governance and Public Service Infrastructure. Create a permanent Office for Social Innovation.

4. Capacity and Skills. Improve social purpose organizations’ access to federal innovation, business development and skills training programs.

5. Capacity and Skills. Establish a cross-sector Social Innovation Ecosystem Program to address gaps in early-stage support, capacity building and impact measurement.

6. Funding and Capital. Create a Social Finance Fund to accelerate the development of social finance ecosystems across Canada.

7. Funding and Capital. Ensure federal funding practices support and enable social innovation.

8. Market Access. Incorporate social procurement guidelines, tools and training into Government’s focus on a cohesive sustainable procurement plan.

9. Policy and Regulatory Environment. Address the legal and regulatory issues impeding charities and non-profits from engaging in social innovation, social finance, and social enterprise.

10. Policy and Regulatory Environment. Develop regulatory innovation capacity using ‘sandboxes’ to explore and experiment with new models.

11. Evidence and Knowledge Sharing. Establish a Social Innovation Evidence Development and Knowledge Sharing Initiative.

12. Awareness and Mobilization. Coordinate a national social innovation and social finance awareness campaign.

Source Article: Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy for Canada: https://sisfs.ca/

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