Ottawa has chosen three investment groups to manage a new $400-million fund aimed at expanding the country’s social finance market and attracting more private-sector capital to invest alongside.
Boann Social Impact LP, Fonds de finance social – CAP Finance, and Realize Capital Partners will invest the $400-million in government money over the next five years, and look to attract another $800-million in private capital in efforts to expand the market for enterprises that prioritize racial and gender equity, environmental and other socioeconomic goals.
CAP Finance brings together several Quebec-based institutions, led by Réseau d’investissement social du Québec and Fiducie du Chantier de l’économie sociale. Realize Capital is an alliance that includes impact fund manager Rally Assets and early-stage venture capital fund manager Relay Ventures., while Boann Social Impact and Realize Capital Partners will invest in the rest of Canada. They won the mandates following a competitive call.
The government’s last social innovation and social finance program was in 2022, with 26 organizations, including the Canadian Women’s Foundation, Buy Social Canada, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada and African Caribbean Business Network, receiving money from a $50-million fund.