A program that helps “accelerate” the growth of an existing company or organization. Both incubators and accelerators typically support founders and teams with training, mentorship, networking, and access to funding opportunities. Incubators and accelerators can be run by post-secondary institutions, past entrepreneurs, corporations, etc.
An organization that campaigns on a particular issue and makes recommendations for certain changes in government, public policy, law, etc. AKA lobby groups. Examples include: Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada (MADD) and Canadian Council for Refugees
An individual who provides early-stage capital to startups, often in exchange for equity.
Cap Table = “Capitalization Table”. A spreadsheet showing who the shareholders are (i.e., founders, employees, investors) and each party’s percentage ownership.
Organizations that demand capital develop products and services to address social, environmental, and cultural issues. Examples include: mission-driven for-profits, charities, advocacy groups, non-profits, co-operatives, small businesses
Organizations that supply capital have financial and non-financial resources designated to advance social, environmental, and cultural objectives. Examples include: family offices, foundations, government, financial institutions, corporations, pension funds
A specific type of non-profit organization that has obtained charitable status from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Charitable organizations are established and operate for charitable purposes that provide public benefit. Legally, registered charity organizations must direct their activities towards one of the four following purposes: - Relief of poverty (food banks, soup kitchens, and low-cost housing units) - Advancement of education (colleges, universities, and research institutes) - Advancement of religion (places of worship and missionary organizations) - Purposes beneficial to the community, as recognized by case law (animal shelters, hospitals, theatres, and much more). Registered charity status allows charities to issue tax receipts, meaning that donors can deduct their charitable donation from their income eligible for taxation. Charities have a disbursement quota, which is a minimum spending requirement that must be allocated towards their own charitable activities or as gifts to qualified donees (other registered charities or organizations that are aligned with their charitable purpose).
A type of business that is democratically owned and operated by its members, who all have equal voting power in making decisions. Members use the co-ops services or products.
A debt instrument that converts into equity at a later financing round, often with a discount or valuation cap.
A legal entity that is created and registered under federal or provincial legislation. It is a separate legal entity distinct from its owners or shareholders, which results in limited liability to its owners.
Data sovereignty is the principle that communities—particularly Indigenous Peoples—have the right to own, control, access, and govern data about themselves, including how that data is collected, used, stored, shared, and interpreted.
The reduction in existing shareholders’ ownership percentage when new shares are issued (e.g., in a new funding round).
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) is a framework used to assess non-financial risks and opportunities that may affect an organization's long-term performance and resilience. - Environmental factors consider how an organization’s operations interact with the natural environment, including exposure to climate-related, regulatory, and resource-use risks, and how effectively those risks are managed. - Social factors examine an organization’s relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers, local communities, governments, and civil society, with attention to labour practices, human rights, and social license to operate. - Governance factors assess how an organization is directed and controlled, including board composition and independence, leadership accountability, decision-making processes, ethics, and risk oversight. ESG focuses on managing risk; impact investing focuses on generating measurable social and environmental outcomes.
Ownership interest in a company, typically represented by shares of stock.
The event by which investors realize their returns. The most common methods are through an acquisition or an initial public offering (IPO).
A family office is a private investment firm that manages the assets of one family or multiple families. They offer services ranging from investment management to charitable giving advice.
An organization that provides financial services to individuals, businesses, or other entities. They are regulated by the federal government and provincial authorities to ensure stability, security, and consumer protection in the financial system.
Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) is the right of Indigenous Peoples to give or withhold consent to decisions, projects, or activities that may affect their lands, territories, resources, rights, or ways of life.
An organization that manages a pool of capital that is raised from various investors, such as individuals, institutions, or corporations, with the purpose of making investments in startups, early-stage companies, or projects aligned with specific objectives.
The investment firm’s managers who make investment decisions and run the fund.
In this context, we are referring to programs or departments within the provincial, territorial, or federal government that support social innovation and social finance initiatives.
Impact investing refers to investments made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.
A values-based, principles-driven practice that helps organizations understand, articulate, and improve the social, environmental, cultural, and economic change they contribute to.
A program that helps to “incubate” a founder’s or team’s new ideas in the hope of building out a business model and company. Projects being incubated are early-stage in nature and an incubator would support a founder or team to validate the market viability of their concept.
The first sale of a company’s shares to the public on a regulated stock exchange.
Organizations that act as intermediaries are the bridge between capital demand and capital supply organizations. They facilitate the flow of financial/non-financial resources. Examples include: incubators, accelerators, post-secondary research centres, networks, funds
Investing is the act of deploying capital toward projects or activities that are expected to generate a positive financial return over time.
Investors in a fund (e.g., pension funds, endowments, high net worth individuals) who commit capital but don’t manage investments day-to-day.
A company with between 100 - 499 paid employees.
Mergers occur when two companies of roughly equal size agree to combine into a single new entity, often to achieve synergies or scale more rapidly. Acquisitions happen when one company (the acquirer) purchases and absorbs another company (the target)
A type of for-profit company that aims to achieve social, environmental, or cultural objectives alongside generating profits. These organizations prioritize their mission or purpose beyond solely maximizing financial returns for shareholders.
An organization that facilitates connections between other organizations that have something in common. For example, Community Foundations of Canada is the national network for 200+ local community foundations across the country.
A non-profit organization (NPO), also known as a not-for-profit organization, is an entity that operates for purposes other than generating profit for its members or shareholders. Non-profit organizations are established to serve a specific social, cultural, recreational, educational, or charitable mission.
A pension fund refers to an investment fund established to provide retirement income to plan participants, typically employees, upon their retirement.
A tool that allows multiple individuals or groups to share ideas or knowledge. For example, a platform could be a website with resources for social entrepreneurs who are looking for information about who to talk to and what programs to apply for.
A department within a university or college that conducts research and projects focused on a specific topic. Post-secondaries are able to access large pools of funding from organizations like MITACS and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to undertake this work.
A charitable organization that is registered as a private foundation, meaning their endowment is typically funded by a single source and that 50% of its directors or trustees are not at arm’s length with each other.
A charitable organization that is registered as a public foundation, meaning that more than 50% of its directors or trustees must be at arm’s length* from one another, and the source of their funding comes from a variety of arm’s length donors. *Arm’s length: a relationship where persons act independently of each other or are not related.
SAFE = “Simple Agreement for Future Equity”. A streamlined agreement where investors provide capital now in exchange for future equity, without setting a valuation.
The first official equity financing round, typically used to build a prototype, hire initial team, and validate product-market fit.
Later financing rounds: Series A (scaling product/market fit), Series B (expanding market reach), Series C+ (further growth, new markets, or acquisitions).
A company with between 1 to 99 paid employees.
An acronym to describe Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.
An organization that takes the principles of entrepreneurship and business models (selling a product or service) to find sustainable and ethical solutions to social, cultural, and environmental issues. Social enterprises can be operated by a number of different legal structures (non-profits, charities, for-profit corporations, co-ops).
The Social Finance Fund is a long-term, $755M initiative to accelerate the growth of social purpose organizations in Canada. The Government of Canada selected three wholesalers who deploy these funds into social finance intermediaries. Social finance intermediaries, in turn, invest directly in social purpose organizations.
Social purpose organizations (SPOs) consist of various organizations with a mission to advance social or environmental objectives. Social purpose organizations include: - The charitable and non-profit sector (registered charities, incorporated non-profit organizations and non-profit co-operatives) - The private sector (co-operatives and for-profit private businesses advancing a social or environmental mission) - Hybrid entities such as Community Contribution Companies and Community Interest Companies, found in British Columbia and Nova Scotia respectively
A non-binding summary of the key terms and conditions of an investment, serving as the blueprint for the final legal agreements.
UNDRIP stands for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It is a global framework adopted by the United Nations in 2007 that sets out the collective and individual rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as the minimum standards for their survival, dignity, and well-being.