Human Resources committee  To add to the spectrum here, we also work with for-profit social enterprises. We have an accelerated program and a platform that connects investors' funds and social enterprises here at MaRS. I can provide two examples. One is the Komodo OpenLab, which develops inclusive technolo

Human Resources committee  I can provide a very quick response to that. I would say, from what we've been hearing, there is a widespread interest in these tools as additive opportunities for accessing financing on the part of non-profits and other community sector organizations. We've been hearing fear, pe

Human Resources committee  I would start by clarifying that social finance is not one tool. Rather, it's a range of tools. It can include debt and equity investments and those can look like traditional investments or they could be at below market rate where there's a willingness on the part of the investor

Human Resources committee  Another tool that is available to governments is outcomes-based funding. This is a tool that can allow non-profits to gain access to investment capital that wouldn't otherwise be available. It can be used to improve outcomes across a range of social issue areas. Our second reco

Human Resources committee  If you don't mind, I'll let Tim kick it off and I'll take over from him.

Public Safety committee  As I mentioned earlier, I think the most useful thing to look at, in terms of issues that would respond well to a social finance tool, is prevention. I wouldn't suggest you could turn the running of a hospital over to a social finance type of tool. There may be people who think y

Public Safety committee  I think crime prevention and reducing recidivism rates are clearly the places to start. That's not narrowing it down all that much. The social impact bond or the social finance tool is applicable in that relatively narrow range of interventions that focus on prevention. We're n

Public Safety committee  I can start, and then I'll pass it over to Adam. A study that I'm sure you're all familiar with is the At Home/Chez Soi study, which looked at housing and homelessness but also had a focus on mental health issues. That's something we've been looking at in some detail in the cont

Public Safety committee  The need for the evidence I think is clear. At the moment, governments are spending a lot of money through grants and contributions programs, and typically, I think, the evaluations are tracking short-term outputs, such as how many people came through the door, how many people st

Public Safety committee  I think, just to reiterate, that there are a number of different tools, and no tool is a silver bullet. So I think it's important to start with the problem and then identify the tools that are appropriate to solve it, rather than starting with the hammer and looking for a nail to

Public Safety committee  Yes, I think that is a correct statement. I think one of the things that appeal about social impact bonds and social finance tools more broadly is their focus on outcomes. When we say “outcomes”, I think that's not to be narrowly interpreted. When we look at, for instance, the

Public Safety committee  Thank you. Thank you for having us appear before you today. Adam has given a broad overview of the social finance space and our work in it as the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing. I will just briefly describe the benefits that these tools could offer from a government perspecti