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Social Purpose

Q&A with Minister Jenna Sudds

Jenna Sudds

Minister of Families, Children and Social Development


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What strategic priorities has Minister Sudds outlined for the year 2025?

Right now, and moving into 2025, my focus is on making life more affordable for parents and ensuring that children get the best possible start in life. As a mother, I know the sleepless nights, the worry, the weight of responsibility to provide for your children. But I also know the fierce joy that comes when we give our kids the best we can. That’s why our government has taken real action—to ease the burden on parents and to open doors for families. From the making sure every child gets the nutrition they need through the National School Foods Program, to $10-a-day child care, to the new Social Finance Fund we are building a foundation. A foundation for a better future. And that work will continue into the new year.

Part of my ongoing priorities is signing agreements for our National School Food Program with each province and territory by the end of this school year. This way, our children will have access to the nutritious food they need to grow, learn, and thrive—and really, just get to focus on what’s most important: being kids. And for parents, it will give them peace of mind, knowing that their kids are getting the fuel they need to reach their full potential. So far, we’ve signed agreements with Newfoundland and Labrador and Manitoba—with lots more coming in the next few weeks and months ahead. Once all of these agreements are signed this program will help feed up to an additional 400,000 kids.

I am also focused on making $10 a day child care a reality for families across the country by March 2026. So that work will also continue into the new year. Right now, 8 provinces have reached $10 a day, and in all other provinces and territories, fees for regulated child care have been reduced by at least 50 per cent on average. We have created over 120,000 new spots with a goal of getting to 250,000. So we’ve got a ways to go but we’re getting there! Through this program families are saving up to $14,000 a year per child. That’s thousands of dollars each month that goes back into parents’ pockets and household budgets, into opportunities for their kids. This program is life changing. I’ve spoken with families across the country who tell me just how much of a game-changer affordable child care has been for them – for so many moms especially, it’s meant they don’t have to choose between their career and starting a family. I want to make sure that more kids get off waitlists so that more families can benefit from this incredible program. On the social innovation front, we want to continue to encourage innovative approaches that have real impact on our communities. I’ve visited so many different social enterprises and charities, Matthew House in my riding in Kanata, which do incredible work and I want to see more of that. The launch of the Social Equity Lens Coding System (SELI) is another upcoming milestone. As Social Finance Fund wholesalers continue to make impactful investments, one of our priorities as a government is to ensure the ongoing successful implementation of the Social Finance Fund, including exploring ways to continue to support social finance intermediaries (SFIs), social purpose organizations (SPOs) and the overall social innovation ecosystem.

Above all, my number one priority remains delivering for Canadians. This is what guides me and energizes me everyday.

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What is your message to Canadian companies and investors about the importance of enacting meaningful change within their organizations and outward communities?

My message is simple: At the heart of everything we do is a belief that the future belongs to all of us. Our actions today are shaping the Canada of tomorrow—a Canada that is more fair, more just, and more hopeful. Together we can achieve great things.

First, I think that it’s important that the business community recognizes that meaningful change within organizations and outward communities enhances economic growth and community resilience. When businesses invest in local communities, they support an ecosystem where everyone can thrive. Our government understands the importance of continued investment in social innovation and the importance of amplifying the important role that social purpose organizations play in solving society’s most pressing problems. We know that government must partner with these organizations to drive change. And that’s what we will continue to do but we can’t do that work alone. That’s why we have invested in programs like the Investment Readiness Program that helps social purpose organizations get ready to receive funding from investors. The program gives them more power. Power to strengthen Canada’s social finance market and power to strengthen their community support.

The Social Innovation Fund is our next big step forward and is where we need more businesses and investors to join us to make it a success. With their support, we can grow this sector, create new solutions for social challenges, and build stronger communities. This is a chance to invest in real change and make a positive impact together. My hope is that businesses and investors recognize that what’s good for our communities, is also good for them. To be a part of this isn’t just about being a part of something bigger than themselves, but it’s about being part of the future. Being an early adapter here is a competitive advantage.

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What do you envision when you think of the future of social enterprise innovation in Canada?

Through our Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy, we are working towards building the economy that Canadians want. There is so much potential to unlock in social finance. We envision a future where the social finance marketplace supports our most innovative efforts to improve the health and well-being of Canadians.

Through the life of the Social Finance Fund and beyond, we’ll see even more being invested into organizations that are working to resolve Canada’s most pressing issues, including housing affordability, food security, social equity, clean energy, climate action and so much more.

We’ll tap into impact-based financial opportunities by working to develop the tools organizations need to measure and report on how their projects contribute to sustainable development, to social equity, to improvements in social and environmental outcomes, and more.

We’ll see more capital, more flexibility, more affordability in social finance. We’ll see mission-driven organizations led by and serving diverse communities having more equitable access to capital. We’ll see variety and innovation in funding mechanisms and the activities of social finance intermediaries.

I envision more social enterprises will be operating at scale and contributing to resolving pressing socio-economic problems. Social enterprises like Community Builders who are working on training vulnerable community members through a paid pre-employment training program, while also increasing affordable housing supply in Ontario, or like Lu’ma Medical Centre who’s now adding a pharmacy as a new enterprise to its Indigenous centered health services.

Fund managers have already begun investing in funds addressing climate change, housing availability and affordability, food security and improving outcomes in Canadian indigenous communities – the sky really is the limit for what social finance could accomplish.

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