Global trade policies have real, immediate consequences for Canada’s main streets. In the face of America’s economic assault, Canada’s local businesses, municipalities and economic leaders must navigate uncertainty while ensuring community resilience. How will tariffs impact small businesses, supply chains and local economies? What strategies can cities use to adapt and strengthen their economic foundations?
Join SCP CEO Matthew Mendelsohn and a panel of experts at Canadian Urban Institute’s CityTalk Live, Feb. 14, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET for a discussion of practical, community-driven solutions to bolster local economies in the face of global shifts.
Panelists
Justin Towndale
Mayor, City of Cornwall
Matthew Mendelsohn
CEO, Social Capital Partners
Rino Bortolin
Strategic Advisor & Project Manager, Windsor Law Centre for Cities
Tori Williamson
COO, Buy Social Canada
Moderator
Mary W. Rowe
CEO, Canadian Urban Institute
Share with a friend
Related reading
Are Canadian pension funds stepping up for Canada at this moment of threat? All signs point to maybe
Large Canadian pension plan OMERS announced earlier this week that it will attempt to increase its investments in Canada by $10B over the next five years. This is a good sign, says SCP CEO Matthew Mendelsohn, but announcements and good intentions will not be enough. The incentive structure for fund managers, and the allocation of resources across asset classes and geographies, will need to change if pension funds are able to deliver on what their contributors and beneficiaries expect of them.
Watch the video: Should pension funds help build Canada’s future? | TVO’s The Rundown
TVO's The Rundown convened a discussion about whether Canadian pension funds should increase domestic investments versus investing internationally. The video segment examines the risks and rewards of using Canadian pension capital for nation-building projects, highlighting that Canadian pension funds managed nearly $2.5 trillion in assets by the end of 2024, but a large portion is invested outside of Canada. Panelists Matthew Mendelsohn and Keith Ambachtsheer discuss whether funds should focus solely on financial returns or also on contributing to Canada's economic growth.
Tied Up: Unleashing Canada’s non-profit housing potential
Canada’s non-profit housing sector is structurally constrained. Well-intentioned accountability mechanisms, designed to protect public investment and ensure affordability, often have the unintended effect of limiting balance-sheet capacity, restricting access to financing and preventing asset leverage. Consequently, the non-market housing sector remains underdeveloped. In consultation with stakeholders and partners in the non-profit housing space, report authors Michelle Arnold and Savraj Syan identify three technical issue fixes that could unleash Canada's non-profit housing potential.