Investment Readiness Program awards $403,350 in Saskatchewan first round

Saskatoon, July 30, 2020—Federal funding for 11 Saskatchewan social purpose organizations has been awarded through the Saskatchewan Consortium, enabling social enterprises to become investment ready.

The Saskatchewan Consortium is a group of community foundations, charities, cooperatives, businesses, and economic development organizations promoting investment readiness within social enterprise.

The Consortium awarded $403,350 to 11 organizations selected from over 50 applicants in the first round, as part of the Government of Canada’s Investment Readiness Program (IRP). The organizations selected are creating jobs, strengthening the charitable and non-profit sector, and addressing social challenges during and after COVID-19 in Saskatchewan. These organizations are well positioned to receive investment, including through the Government of Canada’s Social Finance Fund.

Projects supported include:

$30,00 – Aboriginal Friendship Centres of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon
$38,350 – Community Living, Saskatoon
$10,000 – Cowessess First Nation, Cowessess
$25,000 – Heart Linked, Regina
$30,000 – Métis Addictions Council of Saskatchewan Inc., Saskatoon
$50,000 – Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan (PATHS), Regina
$40,000 – Prince Albert Métis Women’s Association Inc., Prince Albert
$20,000 – READ Saskatoon, Saskatoon
$50,000 – Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming Inc. (SCYAP), Saskatoon
$50,000 – Street Culture Project Inc., Regina
$60,000 – YWCA Regina, Regina

“We are proud to be part of the Investment Readiness Program, which is groundbreaking on many levels,” says Saskatoon Community Foundation Executive Director Carm Michalenko, “Now more than ever our community is reimagining our business and social sectors, and seeing the essential role of business in social enterprise.

“As we enter the second round of IRP funding applications on September 8, 2020, we are looking forward to seeing new ideas about how we can address the challenges of building back our communities, and we are eager to partner with social purpose organizations.”

“As Canada enters a period of pandemic recovery, it’s crucial we invest in organizations who are helping us think and do things differently. We don’t want to go back to the status quo. We want to build back better, and create more resilient, sustainable and inclusive communities, where economic opportunities are fair and the benefits of wealth are shared,” says Andrew Chunilall, CEO of Community Foundations of Canada.

The work of social purpose organizations strengthens local economies and creates more resilient individuals and communities. In creating and advancing new earned revenue opportunities for charities and non-profits, IRP plays a key role in pandemic recovery and in moving Canada toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

For more information about the IRP, visit the national website at Investment Readiness Program. The second and final round of funding for the Community Foundations of Canada IRP will accept applications starting September 8 until October 9, 2020.

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Contact:

Carm Michalenko

Chief Executive Officer

Saskatoon Community Foundation

Phone: 639.317.7853

Email: ceo@saskatooncommunityfoundation.ca

Saskatoon Community Foundation:

With a vision to make Saskatoon the best community in which to live, the Saskatoon Community Foundation contributes to the quality of life in our city by building endowed and non-endowed funds, and by providing strategic grant making and philanthropic advisory services, as well as community leadership and mobilization. Saskatoon Community Foundation offers endowed funds in which donations are held in perpetuity, generating income to make grants. It also offers non-endowed funds where donors strategically grant their entire gift to several charities. And every year, the foundation grants to a range of community projects and initiatives on behalf of donors who have created unrestricted funds. Follow the Saskatoon Community Foundation on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Investment Readiness Program:

Community Foundations of Canada (CFC) is a national partner in the Investment Readiness Program which helps deliver capital from the Government of Canada to social purpose organizations preparing to successfully participate in the social finance market. As a regional partner with CFC in delivering the IRP, the Saskatchewan Consortium will help empower innovative solutions to social challenges.

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