A Call to Purpose: Building a Canadian Purpose Economy

At this time of economic challenges and rising inequality, pandemic recovery, and environmental emergencies, Canadians are calling on all sectors of the economy to contribute to health and well-being across society.

Canadians expect businesses and their leaders to deliver a positive social impact, enhance environmental sustainability, create value for stakeholders, demonstrate good governance, and generate profits. Increasingly, stakeholders, including customers and colleagues, investors and shareholders, community leaders and stewards of the environment, expect the business sector to be a positive force in society.

As CEOs and leaders of Canadian businesses who have embraced a social purpose to create a better world, we call on our peers to consider why their organizations exist and for whom.

Companies that have articulated and operationalized a social purpose as their meaningful reason to exist and are galvanizing their stakeholders around it, are leading their sectors across numerous critical areas. They are developing purpose-driven lines of business, products, and services, and generating more value, creating social benefits by the very act of conducting business.

Businesses that are committed to addressing societal challenges and creating stakeholder value are performing well—growing, meeting or exceeding the changing needs of their customers, and energizing their employees. We believe that over time social purpose businesses can enjoy greater…

• Customer Loyalty, attracting and retaining customers and building long-term brand affinity.
  Employee Engagement, recruiting, retaining, inspiring, and motivating employees.
• Stakeholder Relationships, building stronger relationships and enabling productive collaboration.
• Social Capital, increasing trust and strengthening operations, while enjoying greater credibility.
• Financial Performance, increasing revenues and access to capital, while reducing risk.
• Innovation Generation, developing new customer value propositions, enabling transformation, and enhancing resiliency.

In our collective experience, social purpose companies are more likely to have a strong sense of direction that will position them to compete, navigate challenges, and achieve long-term growth. And this fuels their ability to better create meaningful outcomes for people and the planet.

With their purpose as their North Star, they unlock their assets, refine their products, extend their reach and influence, and leverage their scale to bring their purpose to life, helping society tackle challenges and putting Canada and Canadians on a path to a sustainable future.

As an increasing number of businesses adopt a social purpose as their reason for being and weave it into their value creation map, the economy, people, and the environment will all thrive.

We are calling on our peers—fellow CEOs and leaders of Canadian businesses—to discover their organization’s social purpose and leverage the fullness of their resources, expertise, and capacity for the betterment of our communities, businesses, and country.

Together, we can create a better tomorrow for future generations. Visit purposeeconomy.ca and join us in our efforts to lead the way to a social purpose economy in Canada.