This Canadian Socially Responsible Investment Review is the only comprehensive survey of socially responsible investment (SRI) in Canada. Now in its fifth edition, the document has been produced by the Social Investment Organization every two years since 2000.

Key Findings
Assets invested according to socially responsible guidelines have increased to $609.23 billion from $503.61 billion since 2006, a 21 per cent increase in two years when markets generally experienced great difficulty. The estimated share of total assets under management in Canada represented by assets under SRI guidelines is 19.9 per cent, comparable to the share in 2006 of 19.5 percent.

Core SRI assets, which are those most closely associated with traditional values-based approaches to SRI, declined to $54.17 billion from $57.39 billion in 2006, a decrease of 5.6 per cent. This decline was attributable to general market conditions rather than a reduction in the number of managers with SRI mandates. The decline was most pronounced among asset managers with institutional clients. This was partially offset by an increase in retail SRI funds, particularly due to growth in renewable energy income trusts.

Broad SRI, which includes strategies to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into financial analysis and portfolio management, was responsible for most of the growth in overall SRI assets. Broad SRI grew to $555.06 billion from $446.22 billion two years earlier. The growth reflects a small increase in the number of pension plans and endowments with responsible investment policies, as well as asset growth by pension funds with existing responsible investment policies. This growth was partially offset by a decline in asset managers with institutional mandates using ESG integration strategies. Sustainable venture capital, while representing a relatively small part of total SRI assets, continued to enjoy substantial growth between 2006 and 2008.

The research found a total of $1.397 billion in community investment and social finance assets in Canada, an increase from $809 million in 2006. While this represents an increase in estimated assets, a large percentage of this increase is a result of a change in methodology for counting assets of the Community Futures Development Corporations.

One area where there has been a significant increase in assets is in the community funds, which grew from $58.7 million in 2006 to $103.3 million in 2008.  This represents continuing growth and vitality in this sector among community loan funds in Montreal, Saint John, Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary. It also includes the assets of the Sociétés locales d'investissement dans le développement de l'emploi (SOLIDE), which are local development loan funds financed by the Solidarity Fund in Quebec and the Community Economic Development Investment Funds in Nova Scotia.  There was also the addition of a new fund in Canada focusing on social enterprise lending, the Edmonton Social Enterprise Fund, which began lending in 2008.

Download the full report from the SIO website

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