“I FEEL FORTUNATE TO HAVE A HOME OF OUR OWN WHERE WE CAN BE A HAPPY FAMILY.”

Anna FordFund Recipient

“I FEEL FORTUNATE TO HAVE A HOME OF OUR OWN WHERE WE CAN BE A HAPPY FAMILY.”

Anna FordFund Recipient

“I FEEL FORTUNATE TO HAVE A HOME OF OUR OWN WHERE WE CAN BE A HAPPY FAMILY.”

Anna FordFund Recipient

“I FEEL FORTUNATE TO HAVE A HOME OF OUR OWN WHERE WE CAN BE A HAPPY FAMILY.”

Anna FordFund Recipient

Updates from the Annual General Meeting

The Vancouver Island Community Investment Cooperative (VICIC) recently held our Annual General Meeting. At the meeting, the members reaffirmed the importance of, and need for, social impact investment on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. It was agreed to spend the next 6 to 9 months researching and testing the social impact investment model of a regional cooperative on Vancouver Island headquartered in Victoria. With the end of the three-year Vancouver Foundation funding, the Board of Directors will be applying for funds from the Investment Readiness Program to hire a consultant to work with the board to specifically undertake this research and analysis, and to report back to the membership by September 2020.

The Benefits of Investing Local

We help people invest money in local, sustainable projects on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. Our unique investment model ensures social impact investors receive a GIC equivalent return on investment, while ensuring local projects obtain the funding they need. In the same way that we recognise the benefit of ‘shop local’ campaigns to bolster local economies, individual investors see the very real benefits of investing local. In British Columbia, over $4-billion dollars invested in RRSPs each year leaves the provincial economy. If even a small portion of that outflow of capital were redirected toward local projects, the impact would be significant.

Invest Now

The Vancouver Island Community Investment Cooperative is pleased to announce that we are now selling shares for investment in the 2019 I Invest Local Fund. The first step to becoming an investor with the Cooperative is to apply for membership. An additional one-time membership share of $250 must be purchased, then additional investment shares may be purchased. Already a member of the Vancouver Island Community Investment Cooperative? You can invest now and contribute to the 2019 I Invest Local Fund by using the Subscription Agreement. The Subscription Agreement allows you to purchase investment shares in units of $250.

Join the Movement

The Vancouver Island Community Investment Cooperative is building a movement towards social investment, where investors can continue to see their money work for them, while it also works to create a strong and productive society. Community Investment Cooperatives or Development Funds are established models in many parts of the world, including Europe and the US, and a growing economic development tool in Canada. There is proven success where funds are pooled and invested locally, with social impact results apparent to investors within their own community.

We are looking for patient investors wishing to invest a portion of their portfolio, happy to think in the long-term. Investments will be in resilient and sustainable businesses, solving the shortage of investors for those types of businesses. In other words, your money won’t be in stocks and shares, but in projects and people.

Why Impact Investing?

Impact Investing funds projects that have social, economic and environmental benefits. Those can be big projects based on social wellbeing, or a local commitment where people witness the impact of their own investment within their community. As well as a financial return, investors can expect a significant social return: a non-financial return to society as a whole, where your money directly contributes to social good and supports your local economy.

This well-managed fund is backed by CCEC Credit Union, ensuring all projects go through their due diligence process and meet the financial institution’s own financial requirements.