Social Enterprise Workshops
Social enterprise - some sort of business or commercial activity that financially supports your organization's mission - can offer new ways to fufill your mission and serve community.
But because there are numerous risks involved in social enterprise, it is important that your organization starts its social enterprise the right way, with a full understanding of the legal and regulatory environment. IntegralOrg has a number of resources for your nonprofit to tap into.
2025 workshop options are under development and will be available for registration in December 2024. To stay informed of upcoming webinars, subscribe to our newsletter.
Social Enterprise Legal Structures Toolkit
IntegralOrg has created the Social Enterprise Legal Structures Toolkit to guide Alberta organizations and entrepreneurs interested in developing a social enterprise through the decision-making process of selecting a legal structure.
In this free-to-use toolkit you will be guided through a series of questions about what kind of organization you have, how it is structured, and what you want to accomplish through your social enterprise. Your answers will bring you to a result - a suggested legal structure.
In addition to the assessment, the toolkit contains definitions of key terms, case studies, and resources to assist with your understanding of important concepts and deepen your educational experience.
Watch past events!
Click below to watch a workshop - or for workshop recordings, slides, and resources, watch on demand.
INTRO to Social Enterprise: Which legal structure should we choose?
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Enterprising charities and nonprofits should understand that the restrictions around earning revenue and generating profit and the optimal legal structure for a social enterprise may vary widely depending on what legislation the organization is incorporated under, as well as the organization's strategy and circumstances. This session covers: CRA-related business rules for charities; The most common statutes (Societies Act, Companies Act, Canada Not-for-Profit Companies Act) for nonprofits and charities operating in Alberta; and the legal regulations on social enterprises imposed by the Income Tax Act. Watch the video.
Start Your Social Enterprise the Right Way: A panel discussion about social enterprise and the legal and regulatory environment
Thursday, May 6, 2021
This engaging panel discussion shares how organizations can structure social enterprises and the lessons established social enterprises have learned along their journey. Event moderator, Kristina Roberts, IntegralOrg’s Legal Initiatives Manager, is joined by panelists Yvonne Chenier, IntegralOrg co-founder and a charity and nonprofit lawyer with over 40 years of experience; Jane Bisbee, the Executive Director of the Social Enterprise Fund which provides financial support in the form of loans to organizations across Alberta that are developing a social enterprise; Kate Beneteau, Director of Finance with Chrysalis: An Alberta Society for Citizens with Disabilities; and Diane Hodgins, CFO of Shorefast, the organization behind a series of innovative community development projects on Fogo Island, Newfoundland. Watch the video .
Blogs
Shape-Shifters: What happens when social enterprises need to change their legal structure? Kristina Roberts, April 28, 2021
An overview of the structural options for social enterprises in Alberta Kristina Roberts and Yvonne Chenier, April 12, 2021
A social enterprise journey: Two Wheel View IntegralOrg: March 29, 2021
Is social enterprise a game-changer for Alberta nonprofits? Kristina Roberts, March 9, 2021