Forum on Social Innovation
Earlier this summer we joined changemakers from across the country at the Canadian Forum for Social Innovation in Halifax, June 2–4, 2025. Since 2022, the Forum has created space for people from government, education, nonprofits, and the social sector to shape Canada’s innovation strategy together.
The Forum is co-convened by the Canadian Science Policy Centre and The/La Collaborative, and it brings a wide mix of voices to the table including social innovation practitioners, policy makers, higher education leaders, and community organizations. At its heart, the Forum is about creating alignment across sectors and finding practical ways to move ideas into action. This year, hosted at Dalhousie University in partnership with Social Innovation Canada, the conversations focused on how we can grow ecosystem capacity for mission-oriented innovation. Participants also took part in an immersive exercise to surface policy levers and supports that could help strengthen cross-sector connections, knowledge sharing, and innovation capacity across the country.
In January 2025, the Forum released A Roadmap for Inclusive and Collaborative Innovation Across Sectors in Canada, which highlights steps for building a more connected and resilient innovation ecosystem. You can take a look at the report here:
Front cover of “A ROADMAP FOR INCLUSIVE AND COLLABORATIVE INNOVATION ACROSS SECTORS IN CANADA”
This year’s gathering was especially energizing for our Future of Labs (FOL) community. It was a chance to reconnect, share insights, and dig into bold ideas about where the field is heading. With Social Innovation Canada as a partner, several FOL practitioners were able to attend and highlight the value of labs and community based perspectives on innovation.
Presentations from FOL practitioners included:
Action Lab: How can connectivity help social innovators build beyond pilotitis and accelerate transformative social change?
Llio: How might social innovation labs balance ambition and capacity to address systemic change effectively?
Winnipeg Boldness Project: Thinking inside the circle, what does connectivity mean from an Indigenous perspective and how can it guide our innovation practices?
Georgian College and Future Civics: What needs to be true for rural social innovation to thrive?
Roots and Rivers and Upsocial: Mechanisms for cross-scale collaboration and alignment
Enfin Impact and Social Innovation Canada: Promising practices, criteria, and conditions for successful missions
The Labs community looks forward to the report that will come out of this year’s Forum and the role they will play in strengthening Canada’s social innovation ecosystem.
