We often write in our Newsletter about the latest developments in connection with social enterprise, social finance and social impact bonds in Canada. Charities and non-profits are regularly looking to these topics and vehicles wanting to understand how and if they represent new ways to generate revenue and investment in their activities and missions.
A significant step was taken in this month with the announcement of the first social impact bond publically launched in Canada. The social impact bond was launched in Saskatchewan, supported by the Government of Saskatchewan in partnership with Conexus Credit Union and EGADZ Youth Centre. Miller Thomson's Rick Van Beselaere and Susan Manwaring assisted with legal arrangements related to the Bond.
This Bond is an investment in a new supported living home for at-risk single mothers in Saskatoon. The goal of the Bond is to provide investment to the charity, EGADZ's Saskatoon Downtown Youth Centre.
The project involves EGADZ providing single the mothers with children under the age of 8 with affordable housing and support while the mothers complete their education, secure employment or participate in pre-employment activities such as life skill training and parenting classes. The ultimate goal of the project is to help these families transition back into the community and prevent their children from entering the foster care system.
The $1,000,000 investment in EGADZ will come from the Conexus Credit Union and Wally and Colleen Mah. The terms of the Bond provide for an outcome payment structure (meaning reimbursement of the investment to the investor) based on the degree to which the social outcome is met. The success of the social outcome will be measure by an independent investor at the end of the second, fourth and fifth years of the agreement. The outcome marker will be the number of women still with their children 6 months post intervention.
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