For Immediate Release: December 20, 2019
Oakville, Ontario: Earlier today, the Government of Canada announced that stage one of its ten-year, $800 million commitment to funding social innovation and social finance across Canada has launched.
Called the Investment Readiness Program (IRP), the initiative builds on existing supports to help catalyze community-led solutions to persistent social and environmental challenges and to connect social and cultural change to economic development. IRP provides time-limited investments to improve the capacity of Social Purpose Organizations to participate in the social finance market, access new investment and contract opportunities, and support them throughout the innovation cycle.
The Brant | Halton | Peel Regional Partnership is a consortium made up of 6 Community Foundations – Oakville, Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon, Halton North, Burlington and Brant – and Sheridan College, which operates EDGE – the Entrepreneurship Discovery Growth Engine – a thriving regional hub that provides extensive supports for entrepreneurs and changemakers, with a key focus on social innovation. This Partnership group will allocate funding in the form of non-repayable capital within Brant, Halton and Peel to charities, non-profits, co-operatives, hybrid social enterprises, and mission-focused for-profits. The first application period for the program runs from January 8 to February 10, 2020, with two other application periods planned later in 2020.
“The Oakville Community Foundation is very proud to be part of this initiative, allowing us to bring together 3 regions in this important Regional Partnership. We are particularly thankful for the trust the federal government has provided to our national body, Community Foundations of Canada and the Community Foundation Network,” says Wendy Rinella, CEO of Oakville Community Foundation, speaking on behalf of the six partnering community foundations.
“Helping people explore entrepreneurship and changemaking is a core part of our identity,” says Dr. Janet Morrison, President and Vice Chancellor of Sheridan. “Joining this partnership provides a tangible way for Sheridan to live out its organizational commitment to forming generative connections across experiences and disciplines, supporting intentional impact, and collectively finding answers to the tough questions facing our world.”
The Regional Partnership will also include a number of Expert Service Providers across Halton and Peel, who will be engaged as required to provide resources, training, mentoring and other learning opportunities to Social Purpose Organizations to move them toward investment readiness.
To learn more about IRP visit either www.theocf.org/initiatives or www.irp-ppi.ca
Information sessions to be held in January 2020 – to receive notification please register at https://www.theocf.org/wp2021/initiatives.
For more information, please contact:
Sarah McPherson
Director of Philanthropy & Communications
Oakville Community Foundation
sarah@theocf.org | 905-844-3562 ext 302
Susan Atkinson
Director of Communications
Sheridan College
Susan.atkinson@sheridancollege.ca | 905-815-4073
