About the Investment Readiness Program

The Investment Readiness Program (IRP) is a $50 million program over 2 years starting in fiscal year 2021 to 2022, designed to help advance social innovation and social finance (SI/SF) in Canada.

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Renewal of the program

As announced in Budget 2021, the Government of Canada has renewed the IRP based on the success of the pilot program that took place between 2019 and 2021. The renewed IRP will continue to advance SI/SF in Canada. It will strengthen the SI/SF ecosystem.

Who does the IRP support

This program supports social purpose organizations (SPOs) to build their capacity to access social finance and participate in the larger SI/SF ecosystem.

Specifically, SPOs are organizations operating with a social, cultural or environmental mission. They can be charities, non-profits, social enterprises, co-operatives or businesses with a social mission.

The renewed program will also expand support to SPOs led by or serving equity-deserving groups, such as (among others):

  • women
  • Indigenous peoples – First Nations, Métis, Inuit
  • low-income people
  • Black Canadians and other racialized peoples
  • people with disabilities
  • members of the LGBTQ2+ community
  • official language minority communities
  • recent immigrants and refugees

The IRP supports the Government of Canada's goal to increase inclusion and opportunities for participation of Canadians in their communities.

How it works

The renewed IRP will be delivered by our funding partners under 2 streams:

  • stream 1: Readiness support partners will provide funding to SPOs to build skills and capacity to access social finance investment. SPOs will use the funding to:
    • get help to do market analysis
    • develop new products and services
    • build business plans, and
    • acquire technical expertise
  • stream 2: Ecosystem builders will invest in projects that help grow and strengthen the SI/SF ecosystem by being more inclusive and integrated. This ecosystem includes connections between:
    • social purpose organizations
    • networks
    • experts
    • social finance intermediaries
    • researchers, and
    • the government

A strong ecosystem makes it easier for SPOs to be more socially innovative and to access social finance.

You are a SPO: Where to submit your proposal

Eligible SPOs can apply for funding from the readiness support partners, who will assess their applications. Please note that the Government of Canada does not directly assess SPOs’ proposals for this program.

Please consult readiness support partners’ websites for information on how and when to apply.

Readiness support partners

In addition to the above readiness support partners, the Foundation For Black Communities (FFBC) is leading a new initiative to direct further IRP funding to Black-led and Black-serving SPOs with support from Community Foundations of Canada.

Ecosystem builders selected from the first round of funding
Ecosystem builders selected from the second round of funding

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