A by-the-numbers look at social financing and social enterprises in Canada

OTTAWA — The federal government is crafting a strategy to help grow social financing initiatives and expand the number of social enterprises, organizations that partner with private investors to deliver a social program like job skills training. Here are a few numbers to keep in mind:

$2.2 billion: Estimated amount available in Canada for so-called impact investing.

60: Percentage of aboriginal people off-reserve who scored in the lowest two categories on an OECD five-point scale for measuring literacy skills.

14: Percentage of workers in Canada who score at the lowest literacy skill levels.

25,000: Estimated number of social enterprises in Canada

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150,000: Estimated number of people employed at social enterprises in Quebec

4: Percentage of Quebec’s gross national product attributable to the province’s “social economy”

(Source: Employment and Social Development Canada)

The Canadian Press