Economic & Community Impact

Social enterprises are proving to be powerful drivers of both community impact and financial resilience in Ottawa:

• Economic Contribution: Responding social enterprises generated an estimated $41.9 million in earned revenue during their last fiscal year.
• Job Creation: The social enterprises support an estimated 376 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs, with 57.4% operating as grassroots ventures employing 1 to 5 staff members.
• Revenue Catalyst: For 90% of surveyed organizations, earned revenue is vital to long-term sustainability. Over half of social enterprises derive 75% or more of their total revenue from sales.
• High Satisfaction: 51.9% of operators report high satisfaction with their social impact, though high satisfaction with financial performance lags at 25.9%, signaling a need for business optimization.

Unlocking Untapped Potential

Based on the report, the three best ways to unlock the full potential of Ottawa’s social enterprises are:

1. Expand Market Access and Leverage Social Procurement:

• Business-to-Consumer (44.6%) and Business-to-Business (43.3%) channels drive the vast majority of local social enterprise sales, while government purchasing represents just 12.1% of activity. Unsurprisingly, operators identified marketing and sales and market expansion as their highest-priority support needs.

• Action: Create stronger connections between social enterprises and corporate/public buyers by expanding social procurement initiatives, facilitating buyer-seller networking, and delivering hands-on support for marketing and sales execution.

 

2. Provide Flexible, Early-Stage Financing and Seed Capital:

• Capital constraints continue to hold ventures back. Limited funding is cited as a major barrier by 26.7% of current operators and an overwhelming 81% of organizations in the startup pipeline.

• Action: To move promising ventures from concept through launch, Ottawa needs flexible seed capital models, early-stage grants, and financing pathways designed specifically for mission-driven businesses to navigate start-up and stabilization costs.

 

3. Build Business Capacity and Hands-On Advisory Supports:

• Limited staff bandwidth is the single largest operational obstacle for both current enterprises (35.3%) and emerging ventures (81%).

• Action: Equipping leaders with tailored, one-on-one business coaching, tailored training workshops, and peer-learning hubs will build organizational capacity—allowing teams to optimize business models, build sales readiness, and drive profitability without risking burn-out or mission drift.

 

The findings tell a story of a sector with significant impact today and even greater potential for the future.

CSED is grateful to the Ottawa Community Foundation whose funding support helped make this research possible. We also extend our sincere thanks to the many organizations that responded to the survey.