SCP reports on six years of TurnAround Couriers, a social-purpose business dedicated to helping at-risk youth in the Greater Toronto Area overcome social and economic obstacles by providing them with a chance to get ahead.
“90% of the target population recruited from shelters was able to secure independent housing within six months of employment, representing approximately $162,066 savings in shelter costs over a six-year period.”
Share with a friend
Related reading
Elbows up: Keeping Canadian companies in Canadian hands | Policy Options
Blue Jays pride notwithstanding, many of Canada's most iconic companies and brands have been quietly but steadily purchased by foreign entities in recent years. As Danny Parys writes in Policy Options, policymakers should do more to keep Canadian companies in Canadian hands by providing more support to expand financing opportunities, expanding awareness of untraditional ownership models and beefing up Canada’s net-benefit review requirements. These quiet foreign sales not only lead to major frustrations for consumers, but workers also feel the impacts because, as corporate leadership moves further away from the community, so do quality and accountability.
You can’t be sovereign if you don’t own anything
Gas station giant Parkland is already shedding Canadian employees in the wake of TX-based Sunoco’s recent takeover of the Canadian fuel chain, which owns 15% of our gas stations and a key refinery in Burnaby, B.C. These layoffs were a predictable outcome of Ottawa's decision not to flex its new regulatory muscle through the Canada Investment Act to quash foreign investment deals that pose an economic security threat. As SCP chair Jon Shell writes, there’s a real danger that the government will continue this sell-off of Canadian companies to foreign investors—and that this sell-off will be considered a “win” for the government’s economic growth strategy. This would be a mistake.
Reflections on Budget 2025: Economic growth alone won’t save us
Budget 2025 includes hopeful initiatives that will deliver real benefits to working Canadians at this time. In this reflection, SCP CEO Matthew Mendelsohn explains that, strategically, we really like the Budget’s focus on industrial strategy, some tentative steps on making more capital available to a wider diversity of Canadians and commitments to loosen the grip that our oligopolistic sectors have over our economy. However, we are concerned by the lack of a strategic approach to providing more working people and young people a path to wealth, ownership and economic security. While the Budget responds to the wish list that corporate Canada has articulated for several years, there are no guarantees that they will indeed step up to invest—or that those investments will produce growth that benefits working people and communities.