MaRS Centre for Impact Investing receives $1 million gift from RBC

TORONTO, Nov. 8, 2012 /CNW/ - The MaRS Centre for Impact Investing today received a $1 million, five-year commitment from RBC to help build its capacity as a leadership hub for social finance and impact investing. The announcement was made at the Centre's annual Social Finance Forum, taking place at MaRS Discovery District.

With this gift, RBC becomes a founding partner of the Centre, which was launched in late 2011 to increase awareness of social finance and direct new capital and talent to tackle social and environmental problems in Canada. The donation will fund educational programs for investors, social enterprises and financial advisors, as well as the development of models, tools, products, research and services to create and measure positive social and environmental impact.

"RBC is proud to be a founding partner of the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing, and we are confident that with this donation, the Centre will strengthen our collective ability to mobilize private capital toward the public good," says Gordon M. Nixon, president and CEO, RBC, and Chair, MaRS Discovery District. "The Centre will become the 'go-to' resource for social finance in Canada, creating a collaborative platform for private, community and government sectors to develop products, services, talent and public policy."

"MaRS is proud to recognize RBC as a founding partner of the Centre for Impact Investing," says MaRS CEO Ilse Treurnicht. "RBC's leadership in the social finance sector, through its own initiatives and its contribution to the Centre, speaks to the momentum that is building around the impact investing agenda in Canada."

Today's donation complements the RBC social finance initiative, a $20 million commitment to help ignite social and environmental change through investment activity.

Ted Anderson, director of the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing, notes that the partnership will help drive the development of a robust social finance marketplace in Canada. "This contribution is another tangible example of RBC's leadership in social finance and impact investing, and will help to shape how we tackle some of the major societal issues that Canadians are dealing with," he says.

About MaRS
MaRS Discovery District (Twitter: @MaRSDD) is a mission-driven innovation centre located in Toronto. MaRS works with partners to catalyze, accelerate and amplify innovation. MaRS supports entrepreneurs building Canada's next generation of growth companies.

About the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing
The Centre for Impact Investing (Twitter: @SocialFinance) is a national hub designed to increase the awareness and effectiveness of social finance in order to direct new capital and talent toward tackling Canada's most pressing social and environmental problems. Designed for collaboration and co-creation between government, community and the private sector, the Centre builds on the foundational work of MaRS and Social Innovation Generation (SiG), including the landmark report by the Canadian Task Force on Social Finance.

SOURCE: MaRS Discovery District

Melissa Hughes 
Manager, Media & Community Relations
[phone] ext. 2710
[email protected]