ELIGIBILITY
Our investment decisions take into account the complementarity and balance of a project’s social mission and its economic viability.
TYPE OF ENTERPRISES
SOCIAL ECONOMY ENTERPRISES
- Legally incorporated as a not-for-profit or cooperative, the enterprise has developed, or seeks to develop a social economy project that is based, and mainly operates in Québec.
- Your collective enterprise isn’t incorporated yet? You can still submit an application. But, you must ask a development agency, sectoral association, existing enterprise, or another other resource recognized by RISQ to represent you for the financing application while you are waiting for your enterprise to be incorporated.
Emerging from its community, a social economy enterprise is an entrepreneurial organization pursuing a social mission that is situated in the commercial sector.
SECTOR
- Any economic sector, as long as it meets the needs of its members, the public, or a particular community.
EXCLUDED
- Projects consisting essentially of organizing and running a fundraising campaign
- Activities of a controversial nature
- Projects of a political, sexual, or religious character
- An enterprise whose mandate consists in implementing or administering a program of the Québec government.
- Enterprise whose Board of Directors has been appointed mainly by the Québec government
- Enterprise whose employees must be appointed pursuant to the Public Service Act or where the social fund is government controlled
- Social housing project, except those providing complementary services
- Worker/shareholder cooperatives*
*Some exceptions may be made
CRITERIA
- Base its operations on the principles and values of the social economy
- Provide a service/product that meets social, individual, collective, and economic needs and contributes to communities’ quality of life and development
- Demonstrate financial viability and social benefit
- Supported by the community and milieu
- Backed by the experience and expertise of its management team and board of directors
- Promote group vitality and democratic decision-making process
- Create/maintain quality jobs