Minister Duclos visits the United Kingdom to study social innovation approaches to improve social and economic outcomes for people and communities

From: Employment and Social Development Canada

News Release

April 24, 2017              Gatineau, Quebec              Employment and Social Development Canada

While Canada is a relatively prosperous country, it still faces important social issues that affect the most vulnerable Canadians. Recognizing that new and innovative approaches are required to build stronger and more inclusive communities where all Canadians have a fair chance to succeed, the Government has committed to develop a social innovation and social finance strategy for Canada.

As part of this effort, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development is travelling to London, UK, from April 24 to 27 to learn about best practices of social innovation by government, civil society and the private sector.

During the visit, Minister Duclos will meet with key organizations, think tanks and academics to discuss how the UK has used social finance investments to support community development and social entrepreneurs and to learn how socially innovative approaches are driving solutions that improve peoples’ lives. The Minister will have the opportunity to exchange with local community organizations and learn about how they have achieved better social outcomes for citizens in their communities through social innovation and social finance.

The Minister will also address an audience at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His talk will focus on his transition from professor to politics and his work to help build and support a strong middle class.

Further, since the softwood lumber industry is a priority for the Government, the Minister will also meet with UK timber industry experts to discuss a range of trade activity including new market opportunities for lumber export.

On April 26, he will be interviewed for the British Broadcasting Corporation show, HARDtalk, by Sarah Montague, a television and radio journalist.

Quotes

“The Government of Canada is taking action towards finding innovative solutions to help Canadians most in need, such as Indigenous Peoples, immigrants, youth at risk and women fleeing violence. These individuals often face complex challenges that cannot be easily solved using traditional approaches or by any single level of government or organization. Collaboration is an important element of social innovation and of social finance and we are inspired by initiatives outside Canada as we embark on creating a social innovation and social finance strategy of our own.”
– The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development

“Our government will develop a social innovation and social finance strategy that finds creative solutions to real challenges faced by people in our country—solutions that will grow our middle class and give more Canadians a real and fair chance at success.”
– The Honourable Patricia A. Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour

Quick Facts

  • Social innovation can improve people’s quality of life through creative ideas, collaborating with new partners and delivering measurable outcomes for the most vulnerable Canadians and communities.

  • Social finance is a tool that seeks to mobilize private capital for public good. It is a new way of implementing more effective solutions to complex social challenges that leverages the resources of all members of a community.

  • The Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour have a mandate commitment to develop a social innovation and social finance strategy.

  • A steering group will soon be appointed to co-develop a social innovation and social finance strategy with the Government, consisting of leaders, practitioners and experts from multiple fields, including Canada’s community, philanthropic organizations, financial and research sectors.

  • In the United Kingdom, multisectoral partnerships for social finance helped generate over 1 billion dollars in social investment over the past five years.

  • In the United States, the Social Innovation Fund, created in 2009, has so far resulted in the evaluation of 26 strategies in fields such as youth development and healthy living. Eighty-five percent of these strategies were found to have had a positive impact on targeted outcomes.

Associated Links

Contacts

Émilie Gauduchon-Campbell
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
819-654-5546


Media Relations Office
Employment and Social Development Canada
819-994-5559
media@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
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