The Right Honourable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada Ottawa, Ontario Canada, K1A 0A6 Re:

An Urgent Course-Correction to Maximize the Impact of the Social Finance Fund and Fulfill its Promise of Inclusive Growth

The Right Honourable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada

Marc-André Blanchard, Chief of Staff, Prime Minister’s Office

Michael Sabia, Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue

The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry

The Honourable Rechie Valdez, Minister of Women and Gender Equality The Honourable

Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families

The Honourable Buckley Belanger, Secretary of State

The Honourable Shafqat Ali, President of the Treasury Board

The Honourable Joel Lightbound, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada The

The Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister Of Health

The Honourable Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard

Dear Prime Minister and Honourable Colleagues,

We write as a coalition of Canada’s leading Black-led organizations, social finance

intermediaries, and philanthropic institutions. We are on the front lines, translating public

policy into community prosperity and are deeply invested in the success of your government’s

ambitious vision for a more inclusive economy. It is from this shared commitment that we

bring to your attention a critical, time-sensitive opportunity to ensure the legacy and efficacy of one of your government's initiatives: the $755 million Social Finance Fund (SFF).

While the SFF represents a historic investment in Canada's social infrastructure, its current architecture contains a structural gap that undermines its core mandate of inclusive growth. The Fund currently lacks a Black-led wholesaler, effectively creating a barrier for Black-led Social Purpose Organizations (SPOs) and intermediaries to access capital in a manner that isculturally competent and contextually aware.

This is not a new challenge. The initial rollout of the Investment Readiness Program (IRP) in 2019 required a post-hoc correction to include Black-led investment readiness partner. We are now at a similar inflection point with the SFF. To ignore this precedent would be to knowingly replicate a known flaw within a much larger, long-term program, risking the alienation of

entire communities and the potential of their innovations. The case for a Black-led wholesaler is not solely about equity; it is about the fundamental effectiveness and return on investment of the SFF itself. A dedicated, Black-led wholesaler is an essential component to de-risking the overall SFF portfolio by:

Unlocking High-Yield Social Investment: Identifying and cultivating high-potential, community- embedded enterprises that traditional, non-specialized wholesalers may systematically overlook. Ensuring Capital Flow: Guaranteeing that capital reaches Black-led SPOs, fulfilling the SFF’s legislated intent and preventing the perpetuation of systemic barriers within a program designed to dismantle them.

Maximizing Impact through Trust: Leveraging unparalleled community trust and networks to build capacity and ensure the success of investments, thereby strengthening the entire social finance ecosystem.

We are not simply identifying a problem; we are offering our expertise as partners in the solution. To this end, we urgently propose a direct and collaborative intervention:

Convene an Immediate Solutions Table: We request your direct partnership within the next 30 days to co-convene a meeting between your designated senior officials and our coalition. The objective will be to jointly design the pathway to integrate a Black-led wholesaler into the SFF structure, with concrete policy proposals to be tabled for the next federal budget.

Mandate and Appoint a Black-led Wholesaler: We urge you to make the subsequent tranches of capital to SFF wholesalers contingent upon the successful negotiation and inclusion of a Black-led wholesaler. This is a non-negotiable step to ensure direct, effective, and equitable capital deployment.

Strategic Alignment for Amplified Impact: Integrate the SFF with the federal procurement strategy, leveraging the government’s purchasing power to create sustainable market demand for social enterprises and solidify the SFF’s role in equitable community economic development.

Prime Minister, the full potential of the Social Finance Fund—and its promise to all Canadians— cannot be realized without the intentional inclusion of Black Canada’s expertise. Our communities are a reservoir of innovation and entrepreneurial drive, ready to help build a more resilient and prosperous nation.

We are prepared to work with you. We request a formal response from your office by to arrange the proposed meeting. Let us partner to ensure the Social Finance Fund becomes the success that Canada deserves.

Respectfully,

The undersigned: Current and prospective funders, social finance intermediaries, community enterprises and community investors