Policy and Research Projects

SEED Winnipeg collaborated with Dr. Jennifer Robson (Associate Professor of Political Management, Carleton University, on The Canada Learning Bond, financial capability and tax-filing: Results from an online survey of low and modest income parents. The study focuses on the role of tax-filing as an administrative obstacle to accessing the Canada Learning Bond. The study was funded in part by the Government of Canada through the Canada Learning Bond program.

In 2016, SEED Winnipeg received a grant from The Law Foundation of Ontario Access to Justice Fund to conduct research and public legal education on group plan RESPs. With Dr. Jerry Buckland (Full Professor, International Development Studies, Menno Simons College), Dr. Gail E. Henderson (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University), Momentum (Calgary), and the Legal Help Centre of Winnipeg, SEED studied the regulation of group plan RESPs and the experiences of low-income subscribers. A research report on The Regulation of Group Plan RESPs and the Experiences of Low-income Subscribers was completed in June 2018.

This brief was submitted by Supporting Employment and Economic Development (SEED) Winnipeg, the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba (IRCOM), Community Financial Counselling Services (CFCS), and the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities (SMD) Self-Help Clearinghouse to Hon. Scott Fielding, Minister of Families, and Hon. Ian Wishart, Minister of Education and Training at the Province of Manitoba.

The recommendations included in this submission emphasize the importance of enhancing partnerships with community-based organizations, expanding financial empowerment, and reducing barriers to economic inclusion.

Government-issued identification (ID) is essential to gain access to a wide range of government entitlements, commercial services and financial systems. Lack of ID on the other hand, represents a critical barrier that prevents low-income Manitobans from accessing these services and benefits, and ultimately results in further marginalization and deepening poverty. While the demand to authenticate our identities has increased, supports to help those who face barriers in accessing ID have not kept pace.

Through consultation with both community organizations working directly and indirectly on this issue, as well as government agencies responsible for ID provision, this report identifies four opportunities for improvement to reduce the barriers to ID for low-income Manitobans.

SEED Winnipeg partnered with Dr. Jerry Buckland (Menno Simons College) on a study of access to mainstream financial services by Indigenous people living in Manitoba. SEED staff supported the recruitment of participants for the Winnipeg case study, provided feedback throughout the project, and participated in the project advisory group.

Agreements with the Community Housing Land Trust Foundation to Deliver Affordable Rental Housing on City-Owned Land.

The initial concept for this research arose after the first Coop Housing symposium in Winnipeg October, 2012. Discussions that came out of the symposium were the catalyst the resolution from CEDNET below and consequently for this research project. Important factors supporting the desire to complete the research include the fact that some land leases on which Co-ops are located are coming up for renewal. As well, several coops have access to land for growth and want to build +55 housing to allow aging in place and free up housing appropriate for families.

The state of social finance in Canada is rich and complex, but faces considerable challenges. This compilation includes case studies of social finance investment funds (“SFIF”) from across Canada, focusing on the formation, capital raising and capital deployment of each individual SFIF. By having each SFIF tell its own story, the intention is to better understand the opportunities and challenges that SFIFs face in getting off the ground and in securing and deploying capital. Each case study represents a possible model that may help inform others when considering SFIF creation, development or transformation. Some of these models are born out of community experience, while others have been inspired by examples from outside of Canada. Now, thanks to these case studies, there is a compendium of some of the many and diverse Canadian SFIF models that currently exist. The target audiences of this publication are social financiers, developing and existing Canadian SFIFs, community and private foundations, community development groups, financial co-operatives, and all levels of government. (Carinna Rosales, Director Business Development Services, contributing author)

A project of Partnering for Change-Community-based Solutions for Aboriginal and Inner-city Poverty. A SEED Winnipeg Inc. research report in conjunction with Manitoba Research Alliance.

This research report was prepared for the Northern Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan Regional Node of the Social Economy Suite, May 2011.

This research report was prepared for the Northern Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan Regional Node of the Social Economy Suite in October 2009.

This report is the result of a Winnipeg Inner-City Research Alliance (WIRA) project, which SEED coordinated. This final report was launched in June 2006.