14 April 2025
Announcing the latest round of Community Contributions from Urban Matters CCC!
We are happy to announce that thanks to another year of incredible projects across Canada in 2024, Urban Matters has made a direct contribution of $290,000 back into community this year!
At Urban Matters, our vision is to co-create inclusive communities where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. For us, this means not only working with municipalities and organizations as community consultants, but also using our dollars to help community groups take action and implement solutions.
As one of Canada’s first Community Contribution Companies, we direct a significant portion of our profits every year to support community-led initiatives. Our annual community contributions represent more than mere collaborations. Rather, they signify our team’s shared vision and commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable world.
Our latest contributions focus on both continuing our partnerships with organizations we’ve supported in the past and exploring new opportunities to create lasting change. This year’s inspiring community partners include:
New Power Labs
$110,000
New Power Labs (NPL) is dedicated to changing the future of capital for underfunded and overlooked communities and unlocking Canada’s potential. They bring together investors, funders, asset managers, entrepreneurs, and community leaders to level the field for capital allocation across the diversity of Canada, with the goal of shifting $500 million to underfunded leaders and communities by 2030.
Over the past year, Urban Matters and NPL have teamed up to design a fund that supports mother entrepreneurs with lived and living experience. This fund is designed to support entrepreneurial mothers who have faced life-changing challenges, such as housing instability, substance use, trauma, and systemic discrimination. The fund pairs flexible financing with comprehensive wraparound supports. In 2024, the work focused on validating the need and designing the fund together with mother entrepreneurs with lived experiences. ㅤ
Employ to Empower
$55,000
Employ to Empower (ETE) is a Vancouver-based charity dedicated to breaking down barriers to employment through entrepreneurship. The organization empowers low-income individuals facing barriers such as mental health struggles, physical disabilities, and substance use recovery — providing them with the skills and resources to build sustainable futures.
Last year, funds from Urban Matters allowed ETE to empower 13 entrepreneurs, providing them with business fundamentals training, mentorship, and wraparound support. This year, Urban Matters is deepening its impact by empowering 18 individuals with lived or living experiences to take charge of their futures with purpose and pride.
This investment in time, talent, and financial support is fueling an ecosystem of free entrepreneurial resources, such as business skills training, mentorship, in-house counseling, workshops, the Smart Start program, monthly networking events, and paid leadership opportunities. Beyond funding, the funds will help to foster inclusion, accessibility, and long-term economic resilience. ㅤ
AKSIS
$50,000
AKSIS, Edmonton’s Indigenous Business & Professional Association, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting Indigenous businesses and professionals for the benefit of all Indigenous peoples. Its overarching purpose is to enhance the socio-economic standing of Indigenous communities in the greater Edmonton region, with a vision of establishing Edmonton as the Indigenous Business Capital of Canada.
With this year’s contribution from Urban Matters, AKSIS will be developing strategic communications and a campaign to promote the potential and capacity of Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs in the Edmonton area. A core focus of this work will be economic reconciliation — what it is, what it is not, and what it could look like in practice. The campaign will seek to shift narratives, raise awareness, and deepen understanding of the opportunities and responsibilities in supporting Indigenous economic growth.
Economic reconciliation is about more than participation: it requires meaningful investment in Indigenous-led business and entrepreneurship, removing systemic barriers, and ensuring Indigenous Peoples have access to equitable economic opportunities. This work will highlight the critical role of Indigenous businesses in strengthening local economies.
Urban Matters is thrilled to support AKSIS in advancing initiatives that drive meaningful action toward economic reconciliation within the Edmonton region. These efforts build on the themes, insights, and priorities identified at the Economic ReconciliAction Symposium held in Edmonton in November 2024.
Dr. Peter Centre
$75,000
Based in Vancouver, Dr. Peter Center (DPC) is a non-profit healthcare organization dedicated to providing compassionate care and support to individuals living with complex health conditions such as HIV/AIDS, mental health challenges, substance use, and homelessness. Through a holistic approach that includes medical care, counseling, and therapeutic activities, the Centre continues to advocate for “the two percent” — those in our population who are sidelined by society — and offer a safe and inclusive environment for healing and connection.
Urban Matters is excited to support DPC to advance a partnership with the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society (VAFCS) that will co-design trauma- and violence-informed responses. The work intends to provide community-based complex care supports to urban Indigenous people in a way that honours Indigenous self-determination.
As we move forward, we remain committed to listening, learning, and collaborating with with our partner organizations. We are grateful to all our community partners for their dedication and are inspired by the important work they continue to do. For more information about our approach to community contributions and previous contributions, check out www.urbanmatters.ca/our-impact.
