The Latest

After a successful transition to 100% employee ownership, Taylor Guitars' experience is now the subject of a Harvard Business School case. Read more about how their experience brings the evidence to life: "Employee-owned firms grow faster, default less often, are far more resilient in economic downturns and pay their people more, even before you factor in the wealth-generating effects of ownership. It’s also a great business succession option as it lets owners exit for fair prices while protecting the people and communities they care deeply about.”

The wrecking ball that Donald Trump has taken to international trade has wounded relations between Hamilton businesses and their American suppliers and customers, reports Eugene Ellman in Hamilton City Magazine. Now, they’re looking east and west to replace traditional links to the south and pushing back. When Trump started pontificating about how Canada should become the 51st state and claiming the United States was subsidizing its northern neighbour, SCP Founder Bill Young and the team responded with Always Canada. Never 51 - part economic populism mixed with methodical policy-making, the series is devoted to the issues of wealth inequality and Canadian sovereignty.

As our new government pursues growth and a nation-building agenda, we should remember this lesson from history: too often, we build and invest, only to sell off our assets and resources to the highest foreign bidder, leaving us economically vulnerable. In this moment of extreme peril, SCP CEO Matthew Mendelsohn asks how we should “build, baby, build” in a way that doesn’t merely accelerate the trends towards consolidation of wealth and deeper economic dependence. Canada has everything we need to emerge stronger from this period of geopolitical disruption if we put economic sovereignty and broad access to wealth-building at the heart of our agenda.

Canadian businesses are immensely profitable, but businesses simply haven't been reinvesting in them. As Tom Goldsmith writes in Orbit Policy's Deep Dives, the financialization of Canada’s economy and the high levels of rent extraction that accompany it are barriers to innovation. We are impoverishing ourselves over the long term to support short-term financial gains. If we care about innovation and productivity, then we need to focus far more critical attention on corporate Canada.

We predicted that American investors would be looking to buy up Canadian businesses and assets, and that this would threaten our national security and economic sovereignty. Now Canada has to make a call on whether to kill Texas-based energy giant Sunoco's takeover of Parkland Corporation. In the Toronto Star, SCP CEO Matthew Mendelsohn and Chair Jon Shell ask: do we want to be owned by American billionaires, to work for them and have our wealth stripped away to pad bank accounts in New York and Dallas? If we really want Canada to remain ours, they argue, then we need to think and act like it.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has a monumental task to lead Canadians through the turmoil of a second Donald Trump term, while also addressing various crises: affordability, housing, toxic drugs and health care, to name a few. For Truthout, Nora Loreto interviewed SCP Fellow Silas Xuereb about the crises that loomed over Canada's recent federal election and one fundamental cause that was never clearly identified: concentrated corporate power.

As Trump’s mercurial tariff mandate unleashes market mayhem and geopolitical unease, Canadians have galvanized—buying local, putting the maple leaf on everything, ratcheting our elbows way up. Over the course of a dozen sessions at Public Policy Forum’s 2025 Canada Growth Summit, more than 40 speakers, including SCP's CEO Matthew Mendelsohn, put forward a series of smart, actionable ideas for how governments, businesses, policymakers and communities can work together to advance our collective fortunes.

While Canada’s policymakers try to figure out how to make the Canadian economy less vulnerable to Trump’s whims, many Canadian businesses are going to look like a good deal for American investors. A weak Canadian dollar, low interest rates and expected liquidity challenges create the conditions for an acceleration of private equity-led buyouts of Canadian firms. In ImpactAlpha, SCP's CEO Matthew Mendelsohn explains how, as Canada faces Trump’s mercurial and predatory approach to trade and economic policy, employee ownership can offer much-needed stability and resilience.

Sabrina Maddeaux and Michael Moffatt explore how the inability to afford housing not only affects individuals but also poses systemic risks to the Canadian economy and society. They delve into the implications of economic vulnerability, the talent exodus to the U.S. and the growing disconnection among younger generations, emphasizing the urgent need for a cohesive housing policy that addresses these interconnected issues to ensure a stable and resilient future for Canada.

In this election, Canadians are looking for a leader who will stand up to economic threats from our mercurial and adversarial neighbour. But how, Matthew Mendelsohn asks, will the ideas on offer help workers, regular people, not-for-profits and smaller and medium-sized businesses transition to the emerging new world order? Yes, Canada needs economic growth, but it needs to be the kind that enriches working Canadians, not just not just large financial and corporate interests.

With Canada’s sovereignty at stake, we must invest in every approach to keeping Canadian businesses in Canadian hands. If we match the U.K.'s success in incentivizing employee-ownership conversion, we would see 300 Canadian companies sold to their workers each year. SCP Chair Jon Shell and Employee Ownership Canada CEO Michael Ras explain how very few policies promise as powerful an outcome.

SCP Chair Jon Shell sits down with Andy Farquharson on The Alternative Exit Podcast to explore the transformative potential of employee ownership. Jon recounts how he advocated for Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) in Canada to address wealth inequality and business succession. He talks advantages of EOTs, from preserving a company’s legacy to fostering economic resilience in the workforce and reshaping both business culture and wealth distribution.

Advisory Board members will advise on SCP’s strategy and agenda, drawing on decades of experience across finance, business, government, public policy, communications, civil society and community economic development.

There are lots of real, tangible public-policy solutions to the problems we face, says Matthew Mendelsohn. It begins with talking about the economy in a different way, grounded firmly in the public interest and data that reflect the reality of how people experience their economic lives.

Crowe Soberman Audit and Advisory Partner Chandor Gauthier sits down with Jon Shell, Chair of Social Capital Partners and Board Member at Employee Ownership Canada. They dive into the benefits of Employee Ownership Trusts and get into the nitty gritty of how EOTs can support smooth business succession, boost equity and retention and safeguard business legacies.

Is alternative ownership the future of business in Canada? Shane Gibson from Future of Good reports on how converting to a non-profit, establishing an Employee Ownership Trust, or becoming a co-operative can help a small business become more sustainable, ensure job security and retain wealth within the community.

SCP Chair Jon Shell in the Toronto Sun on what Employee Ownership Trusts mean for business owners, the community and the broader economy

Social Capital Partners’ CEO, Matthew Mendelsohn, joins Member of Parliament for Beaches-East York, Nate Erksin-Smith, on his podcase “Uncommons”. Matthew and Nate talk about wealth concentration and its threat to democratic stability. They also discuss practical solutions to address wealth inequality, lack of trust in democratic institutions, the role of the federal public service and the need for a competent and responsive government.

When outside interests take over a small or medium business, it's often purchased then closed, leaving holes in the community. Future of Good reports on how new laws could encourage more retiring business owners to sell to their employees through Employee Ownership Trusts. EOTs help businesses stay local and contribute to employee retention and financial wealth.

Mark Carney made a speech last week and many people had plenty to say about it. But one of his replies during the Q & A deserves more attention than it received. MP Nate Erskine-Smith asked Carney what he would do about Canada’s growing wealth inequality. Carney’s answer was a bit unfocused, but he made two points clearly: 1) Let’s hope wealthy people give more to charity, and 2) We shouldn’t only focus on redistribution.

A helpful summary of Employee Ownership Trusts that gives Canadian business owners and their advisors a simple (albeit not short) explanation about what they are, and why they should care.

Bringing EOTs to Canada has been a labour of love for a lot of people over the last few years. We’re deeply grateful to the government for establishing the policies we need for employee ownership to flourish here. Now that it’s real we can’t wait to see the community pick the idea up and run with it.

After four years of research, engagement and advocacy, the federal government has finalized the legislative and tax structure for Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs). Social Capital Partners and the Canadian Employee Ownership Coalition are grateful for the government's careful work to make EOTs an attractive option for business owners.

Statistics Canada's official wealth survey significantly underestimates wealth inequality. Canada’s wealth concentration is not as extreme as in the United States, but closer than official data suggest. This misleading portrait undermines Canadians’ ability to have an evidence-informed conversation about how to address growing wealth concentration and the threats it represents for economic resilience and democratic stability.

Social Capital Partners has a long history of investing in people and projects that create more economic opportunity in Canada. Recently, our focus has been on establishing more avenues for working Canadians to build wealth through ownership. Learn more about what we are moving towards.

In the US and the UK, employee-owned companies grow faster, pay better, are less prone to lay-offs or bankruptcies in economic downturns, and are more likely to keep jobs in local economies. Due to supportive public policy, EOTs are a popular structure for business succession in those countries and have generated significant wealth for front-line employees. Canada does not have a business structure comparable to the employee ownership trust (EOT).

Social Capital Partner's Director of Policy Dan Skilleter summarizes the key findings of his recent report "Billionaire Blindspot" in a Toronto Star Opinion piece.

This new report critically analyzes Canada’s flagship wealth survey, the Survey of Financial Security (SFS), and outlines how its methodological shortcomings lead to significant underreporting of wealth inequality.

Social Capital Partner’s Director of Policy, Dan Skilleter, sits down with Steve Paikin on The Agenda to discuss his recent report “Billionaire Blindspot”. This segment digs into how Canada’s official statistics severely underestimate how rich the richest Canadians are and includes steps that can be taken to correct this misrepresentation.

Social Capital Partners' CEO, Matthew Mendelsohn, reflects on the Bank of Canada's productivity speech and calls for need of fresh ideas, voices and questions.

Search funds allow entrepreneurs without capital to buy small businesses. However, only an exclusive club can access the financing to do so and are often forced to re-sell their businesses. We’ve put a twist on the search-fund model to make it more inclusive and long-term.

New research continues to demonstrate that employee ownership fosters economic resilience. As in previous economic crises, employee-owned companies were better at retaining employees and at maintaining hours and salaries throughout the pandemic. In a post-pandemic economic environment, the demonstrated benefits of increased employee retention and alignment by employee-owned companies will be even more important to support economic growth.

In a transaction that would be impossible for a Canadian company, the owners of North America's largest builder of acoustic guitars secure a sustainable future for their company and its employees.