Atlantic CED News
Hope Blooms for Social Enterprise in Nova Scotia in 2013/2014
In a landmark year for social enterprise in Canada, Nova Scotia has the most reason to celebrate. 2013 saw the Government of Nova Scotia approve Social Impact Bonds as a financing tool, the first province to do so. The Social Enterprise Loan Guarantee Program, offered through local credit unions and the only such program in Canada, reached $2 million. Canada's first Social Enterprise Management Certificate Program was established by Common Good Solutions Inc.
Hope Blooms, a youth-led social enterprise from Halifax, also made an incredibly successful pitch on Dragon's Den. All of this following the province's adoption of a Community Interest Company (CIC) designation at the very end of 2012.
This trend looks to continue throughout 2014.
New Funding Instruments for CED Projects in NB
Community organizations in New Brunswick have new financing avenues to bolster access to capital for their local CED initiatives. The provincial government announced the creation of CED Investment Funds (CEDIF) and the extension of their Small Business Tax Investor Credit to these CEDIFs in the 2014 budget. CEDIFs are pools of capital from individuals, corporations and trusts within a defined community that are used to operate or invest in businesses within the defined community. Congratulations to CCEDNet members like the Co-op Enterprise Council of New Brunswick who have been working towards this announcement.
Boosting Youth Participation in Co-op Housing
A team of researchers based out of Cape Breton University are investigating strategies to boost young adults' participation in the governance of their housing co-op. This research is being conducted in partnership with the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada, who is assisting in research design and selecting respondents from among their member housing co-ops. The investigations are being undertaken as part of the Outcomes and Impacts of Co-operative Housing project. The purpose of this broader project is to identify possible solutions for assisting housing co-ops which are experiencing poor governance, management and principled leadership.
Town of Stewiacke Begins New CED Project
The Town of Stewiacke has begun a new community economic development initiative. Three community information sessions were held in February at the Stewiacke Community Centre to be followed by a survey of citizens to identify core expertise and assets in the community. A report on the findings from the survey will be available later this spring.
Canadian CED
Network News
What is CED? A YouTube response
CCEDNet’s new video on community economic development uses some of the marvellous photos submitted in last fall’s
'What is CED' photo contest to illustrate our diverse and dynamic movement in just over two minutes.
Watch it today! >> Next in CCEDNet's Webinar Series
On February 11th,
Community Supports for Immigrant Entrepreneurship drew on lessons from the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers and the Montréal Community Loan Association in considering how to improve immigrant settlement and integration in Canada. Thought you missed it? Well, you can access the recording of this session and others, as well as find out about upcoming webinars on our website.
Improve Your Impact Measurement with CanadaMeasures and CCEDNet
Back through popular demand, we will be holding another learning webinar on the
CanadaMeasures Initiative (CMI) and their platform for measuring your Social Return on Investment. Register today to earn about this accessible system and how it combines educational tools and impact measurement software designed for grassroots organizations.
CED Wire Updates
Community Development Manitoba-style: CCPA-Manitoba Director, Molly McCracken writes about how Manitoba became the source for inspiration and cutting edge policy | Read more >>- Investing in the Environment: Assiniboine Credit Union Wins Environmental Award: Katie Schewe shares the environmental achievements that lead to ACU's Anne Lindsey Award | Read more >>
- CCEDNet International Activities in 2013: An Important Year: Yvon Poirier highlights the international commitments of CCEDNet | Read more >>
- Become a CED Investor: A Manitoba Guide to Community Investment Opportunities: Ryan O'Connor explores tools for investing in people & communities | Read more >>
National CED News
Have Your Say on the Social Solidarity Recommendations
The Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS) is inviting your organization to contribute to the participatory construction of the
Recommendations by Social Solidarity Economy to the Millennium Development Goals post-2015. The Consultation is public and open until March 28. After the current public consultation, RIPESS will release the final document that will incorporate feedback received. It will then be possible for organizations and networks to endorse it, and have their names added to the recommendations. These will then be formally presented to the United Nations.Canadian Federal Budget CED Highlights
The Road to Balance: Creating Jobs and Opportunities, the Federal government's 2014 budget, was released earlier this month. This year, CCEDNet submitted two recommendations to the Federal government's pre-budget consultations related to social procurement, and support for Canadian social enterprises and co-ops. Neither of these submissions is addressed in
The Road to Balance, but several budget items will have impacts on CED organizations across the country. Follow the link below to read these highlights.
Alternative Federal Budget 2014
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released their annual Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) earlier this month. The budget includes many recommendations for CED investments, including: a neighbourhood revitalization program; affordable housing; and the reduction of income inequality. This year’s AFB delivers a plan that would significantly reduce poverty, strengthen the economy, lower unemployment to 5.4% and still balance the budget by 2016-17. It also raises the bar on transparency by providing an analysis of the distributional and poverty impacts of its tax measures—a first for any budget.
CED Tool: Next Generation Evaluation
As the community development sector continues to innovate, it will be ever more important for evaluation to evolve and grow in ways that respond to the increasingly complex, inter-connected, and rapidly changing world in which these initiatives live. This Learning Brief draws from literature and research, as well as more than a dozen interviews with foundation leaders, evaluation practitioners, and social sector thought leaders, with the intention of starting the conversation in the field around Next Generation Evaluation characteristics and approaches.
A Little Bird Told Us: Top Tweets of the Month
Here is a brief sampling of some of our most popular tweets from the past 30 days.
Click hereto follow us on Twitter.
