Building on the momentum of the social finance and entrepreneurship space, the Canadian Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Diane Finley announced today, as part of the government’s Economic Action Plan 2012 to explore social finance opportunities, the Call for Concepts for Social Finance.
Individuals and organizations are invited to submit their ideas and solutions on issues facing Canadian communities – homelessness, youth crime, chronic poverty, skills shortages, and persistent unemployment, to name a few. The government hopes to identify future partners to better support social innovation and in turn, communities.
The announcement was made during the Social Finance Forum 2012 in Toronto, where Minister Finley also hinted at the interest of identifying barriers to Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) at a federal level. SIBs have recently been implemented in New York City to reduce re-offending and decrease the likelihood of future criminal behavior.
Update 2012-11-09:
Speaking points for the full announcement can be found on the Government of Canada website.