Social enterprise is the way of the future
Social enterprise is the future of business — and Canada is now leading the way
Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is one of the most discussed neighbourhoods in Canada. The conversation is usually focused on the overdose crises, homelessness and poverty. But the low-income community is also becoming a booming business sector as intrepid problem solvers launch social enterprises to address its challenges.
According to a recent report from Buy Social, a leading advocacy group for the sector, social enterprises generated $63 million in economic impact in the marginalized community in 2019 alone, with a four-dollar return for every dollar invested. What’s more, while many people in the area struggle with barriers to employment, these civic-minded companies have created more than 2,800 jobs.
Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is ground zero for people who want to solve a social problem with a business model. Capitalizing on the city’s vibrant tourist scene, Skwachàys Lodge is the first Indigenous arts hotel in the nation; profits support studio space and gallery costs for
Indigenous artists. Just down the block, women re-entering the workforce get mentorship and job training while slinging award-winning organic coffee at East Van Roasters. Meanwhile, Hives for Humanity’s beehives, dotted across the neighbourhood, are used to run workshops that reconnect people to the land while producing honey for local restaurants.
These are all examples of social enterprises — organizations that combine innovation, revenue and positive impact, using market solutions to address social and environmental issues.
But this trend is far bigger than Vancouver. In fact, Canada was just recognized by the Thomson Reuters Foundation as the best country for social entrepreneurs among the world’s 45 largest economies.
For years, Canada lagged behind other nations when it came to supporting this sector. The U.K., for instance, formally recognized “community interest companies” all the way back in 2005.
In Canada, meanwhile, we were still fighting over how to define the term (we only settled the matter in 2016, defining social enterprises in part as seeking to achieve social, cultural or environmental aims through the sale of goods and services).
If government has lagged, Canadians have blazed on ahead.
When we founded ME to WE Social Enterprise in 2009, we struggled to find mentors. Now, every city has their own social innovation hub, with MARS in Toronto, the University of Calgary’s Social Impact Lab, the Centre for Social Enterprise Development in Ottawa and many more. These are local accelerators, driving economic, environmental and social outcomes that respond to community needs.
This flurry of activity is why Canada topped other high-finishers like Australia, France and Singapore. (The United States plummeted 31 places from the top spot because, in part, of an uncertain political climate.)
Momentum is building. But despite progress, just more than half of social entrepreneurs polled say the public understands what they do. We haven’t effectively told our story as a sector.
Our collective mindset, and much of our legal system, is still stuck in a binary of charities and companies. But the problems we face today are complex and evolving. Economic incentives can help scale solutions. That means creating nimble organizations that innovate, generate value and, most importantly, offer sustainable change. That’s a story worth telling.
Craig Kielburger is co-founder of the WE Movement, which includes WE Charity, ME to WE Social Enterprise and WE Day.