June 24, 2026

Seafair to advance the development of a new social finance fund for Atlantic Canada

The proposed fund would help expand access to flexible capital for social purpose organizations and social impact-driven initiatives across Atlantic Canada.

ST. JOHN’S, NL — June 24, 2026 — Socially minded organizations and initiatives across Atlantic Canada may soon benefit from work now underway to develop a proposed new regional social finance fund. With strategic and grant-based support from Realize Capital Partners, Seafair has been selected to lead the next phase of development for the proposed Atlantic Social Finance and Community Investment Fund. The grant is part of Realize Capital Partners’ market-building activities as a wholesaler for the Government of Canada’s Social Finance Fund.

The proposed fund will be designed to address the needs of social purpose organizations, community-led initiatives, impact-driven initiatives and emerging community assets seeking access to flexible capital across the region. The initiative is intended to support a stronger social finance market across Atlantic Canada by helping address capital gaps that cannot always be met through traditional financing, philanthropy or government funding alone.

“Community-based organizations and social purpose enterprises throughout Atlantic Canada are working on some of the most important challenges and opportunities in our region,” said Anne Whelan, CEO of Seafair. “The proposed fund is about creating a stronger bridge between those initiatives and investors motivated by social impact alongside capital returns. Our goal is to build a fund that is practical, regional, and durable – one that helps good work move forward.”

“We are pleased to work with Seafair as a trusted mission-driven organization to lead this regional initiative in Atlantic Canada. We see strong potential in building a regional strategy to operate at scale to sustainably channel repayable investment into social purpose organizations and community-driven initiatives across the Atlantic region.” Johny Maung, Manager, Community Investing and Market Building, Realize Capital Partners.

About the Project

Seafair’s work follows an initial phase of work – led by The Purposeful Group with support from Realize Capital Partners – that explored the need, opportunity and potential structure for a regional fund manager in Atlantic Canada. That work identified meaningful demand for patient and flexible, social-purpose oriented capital as well as a need for regional investment infrastructure that can help connect impact-focused organizations with aligned sources of capital.

Through this next phase, Seafair will lead the work to move the concept from a validated opportunity to a launch-ready fund model. This will include confirming consortium partners, finalizing the fund’s brand and investment thesis, completing financial modelling, validating an early investment pipeline, developing the fundraising strategy, and preparing the legal, governance, operational, and impact infrastructure required for launch. By combining repayable investment capital with strong regional partnerships, the proposed fund aims to help community-based organizations pursue projects that create social, economic, cultural, and environmental value.

The next phase of work is expected to start later this year, with the goal of positioning the fund to for potential launch in 2027.

About Seafair

Seafair exists to unlock potential where it matters most. Our work brings leadership, community insight, and practical systems thinking together to help organizations and communities move forward in meaningful ways. Headquartered in Newfoundland & Labrador and shaped by more than two decades of hands‑on experience, we partner with those closest to the work: practitioners, policymakers, technologists, and community leaders. Learn more at www.seafair.ca.

About Realize Capital Partners

Realize Capital Partners (www.realizecapitalpartners.ca) is a fund-of-funds manager for the Social Finance Fund. The Social Finance Fund is a Government of Canada initiative to accelerate the growth of Canada’s social finance market. Greater access to social finance will help social purpose organizations grow, innovate and enhance their social and environmental impacts while promoting more inclusive economic development for communities in Canada (www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/social-innovation-social-finance/social-finance-fund.html).

Realize Capital Partners is a subsidiary of Rally Assets (www.rallyassets.com), an impact investment management firm.

Media Contact

Ayon Shahed, VP Innovation & Business Development

ayon.shahed@seafair.ca