Investment Readiness Program
Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada was proud to be an ecosystem mobilizer and to facilitate access to the federal government’s Investment Readiness Program (IRP) for co-operatives and mutuals, recognized as social purpose organizations. CMC’s role as an ecosystem mobilizer was to inform the co-op sector of the Program and support them in their application process.
All of the funding partners have concluded their funding cycles for 2022/23.
Many Canadian co-ops and mutuals had the chance to receive financing from the Investment Readiness Program (IRP).
Consult the list down below to learn more about the co-operative enterprises that received financing from the IRP.
About the Investment Readiness Program (IRP)
Context
In Fall 2018, the Government of Canada announced the creation of a Social Finance Fund to be invested over the next 10 years. This Fund includes the $50 million of the Investment Readiness Program that will be over two years to help social purpose organizations to improve their ability to successfully participate in the social finance market. In the pilot project, the IRP funded 59 co-operatives. In total, they received 3,4M$.
Through the IRP, co-operatives and other social purpose organizations can apply to get funding in order to :
- Get help to do market analysis,
- Develop new products and services,
- Build a business plan,
- Acquire technical expertise.
For more information visit the Discussion guide for the Investment and Readiness Stream of the Social Finance Fund.
What is the Investment Readiness Program (IRP)?
Launched in June 2019, the Investment Readiness Program (IRP) is an initiative of the federal government aiming to support social purpose organizations for their participation in the social finance market. The IRP offers funding between $ 10,000 and $ 100,000 in non-repayable capital to buy services that help launch, design, measure and develop social purpose organizations.
The Investment Readiness Program (IRP) includes 25 partners:
- Readiness Support Partners (5 funders)
- Expert Service Providers (6 organisations)
- Ecosystem Mobilization Initiatives (14 organisations)
- Knowledge Mobilizers
- Indigenous Systems Mobilizers
- Impact Measurement
- For-Profit Mission-Driven
- Social Finance Intermediaries
- Social Research and Development
Resources
CMC acts as an ecosystem builder and serves as a bridge between co-operatives and the Social Innovation (SI) and Social Finance (SF) ecosystem.
If you want to learn more about social finance in Canada, you can consult the summary (5 pages) or complete (60 pages) report of the Table of Impact Investment Practitioners (TIIP).
You can consult an overview of the IRP pilot project and its impact on co-ops.
If you are an investor or a developer and want to learn more about the co-op sector, please consult our co-op guide for funders and impact investors.
Browse our list of expert service providers for the co-operative sector.
Consult the list of the 59 co-operatives who received funding from the IRP pilot project.
Want to learn more about other co-operatives that received social financing or impact investing? Consult our list of co-ops that received that type of financing.
Expert service providers are organizations or consultants that provide resources, training, mentoring, and other learning opportunities to social-purpose organizations to move towards investment readiness. CMC wants to ensure that co-ops across the country have access to relevant services that meet their specific needs.
Are you a specialized service provider for the cooperative sector and not on our list? Fill in our form. Our team will contact you to evaluate your application.