Investment Readiness Program - The County Foundation

Application intakes are currently closed.

About the Investment Readiness Program

The Investment Readiness Program (IRP) is the leading edge of the Government of Canada’s 2018 commitment to social innovation and social finance.
IRP funding will help social purpose organizations build their capacity to participate in the growing social finance market, including Canada’s $755M Social Finance Fund.
Social finance is investment that has a positive social, cultural, or environmental impact while also generating some financial return.

Your IRP Regional Partner

Community Foundations of Canada has a network of regional partners for the IRP who will answer questions from potential applicants, adjudicate applications, and administer payments. The County Foundation and Upper Canada Equity Fund are the lead partners for IRP South Central East Ontario, which includes the following areas:

Akwesasne Territory
Cornwall
Frontenac County (rural)
Haliburton County
Hastings County
Kawartha Lakes
County of Lennox & Addington
Peterborough County
Prince Edward County
Tyendinaga Territory

Call for Expressions of Interest

We encourage potential applicants in our region to submit a quick expression of interest before applying through the national portal.
This will let us know that an application may be forthcoming and can trigger follow-up engagement from one of our team to further develop the project proposal.
Applicants can submit an expression of interest through January 29.
Applications for proposals close 12 days later on February 10 at 8 pm EST (see below).

Eligibility & Available Funding

The IRP is open to social purpose organizations including charities, non-profits, co-operatives and for-profits with a social impact.
Eligible organizations can receive $10,000 to $100,000 in non-repayable funds to develop, design, measure, and scale their social enterprises.
The IRP can assist organizations at any stage, from refining an idea to scaling up and preparing for investments.

Program Information & Resources

Learn more about program details.
Watch the webinar recording for potential applicants (starts at 4:48 time code).
Get answers from the Frequently Asked Questions.
Review application guidelines (PDF).
Explore related resources, tools, and backgrounders.
Download application forms and a glossary to help prepare your application offline.

Deadline & Online Application Form

Applications for proposals are open through February 10, 2020 at 8:00 pm EST via the national portal.
Please note that, in the IRP South Central East Ontario region, there is only one planned intake round for the IRP, but the funds will be dispersed in two cohorts—one cohort in 2020 and another in 2021.
We encourage potential applicants in our region to fill out a quick expression of interest before submitting an application through the national portal.

Regional Contact

Partners in the region can contact the local IRP project manager below for more information, and applicants can reach out if they have questions.
We encourage applicants to watch the webinar and review FAQs and application guidelines at the links above before reaching out with questions.
In most cases, applicants are best to submit a quick expression of interest first as a conversation-starter, after which they will receive a follow-up by email.
Nous vous invitons à communiquer avec notre chargé de projet en français, si vous préférez.

Duncan Moore
Project Manager, IRP South Central East Ontario
irp@thecountyfoundation.org
Call/txt: +1 (866) 606-3066 (toll-free calls)