We are pleased to invite you to the 4th edition of our Impact Investing Breakfast as part ofImpactFest 2026, presented by our partner BDC, featuring opening remarks by Roxanne Turcotte, First Vice President, Inclusive Investing, BDC, and a short presentation by Olga Cruz, Director of BDC Thrive Lab, on impact investing through the lens of AI.
This free event for Startupfest participants is reserved for investment professionals who are already applying impact investing principles or eager to learn more and begin integrating them into their practice, deepen their understanding and join the movement.
The breakfast will also be an opportunity to connect and network in the inspiring setting of the ImpactFest SkyStage, just before the day’s programming begins.
Pierre-Laurent Macridis, from the Greater Montreal Climate Fund, will help spark the conversations that will shape this year’s edition of ImpactFest around the theme: When Impact Outperforms.
He will explore how impact is increasingly demonstrating strong performance outcomes and where, as an ecosystem, we must continue pushing to unlock exceptional returns alongside meaningful social and environmental impact.
The time has come to unveil the 2026 program for our flagship event, ImpactFest: When Impact Outperforms, co-chaired this year by Trish Nixon (Amplify Capital) and Sam Hasty (Active Impact Investment). The event will take place on July 9 at the Sky Stage at the Grand Quai in Montréal’s Port, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., for this must-attend gathering of the impact investing community, now in its third year.
This year,ImpactFest brings together investors, founders, and ecosystem leaders for a series of bold conversations on the future of impact investing, financing growth, and the transformations needed to move our ecosystem forward.
Amanda Hall, Founder and CEO of Summit Lithium Technologies, will offer an essential perspective on rethinking how we scale beyond borders and how capital can better serve impact.
From navigating the capital stack to the realities of the entrepreneurial journey, from pre-seed to Series A, this year’s program highlights practical, ambitious, and experience-driven perspectives, featuring speakers such as Kelly Gauthier (Rally Assets), Carter Li(SWTCH), andErica Barbosa (Eclipx Family Office).
A morning designed to spark honest conversations, inspire action, and imagine what comes next, together. Finance Montréal’s presence as ImpactFest’s partner underscores the importance of building bridges between finance, innovation, and impact to advance the ecosystem in Québec and across Canada: capital guided by impact doesn’t simply compete, it redefines performance.
CIVIC co-founders Sylvain Carle and Lyne Landry will also join us on stage to celebrate the strength, momentum, and future of the impact investing community.
“ImpactFest is building the connective tissue necessary for Canada to become the global leader in impact innovation. We’re thrilled to be part of this edition and excited to work alongside mission aligned partners to highlight the leadership position Canada is taking and discuss ways to continue to improve as an impact ecosystem.” Sam Hasty
Founders: are you building for impact? This $100K prize is for you.
CIVIC is thrilled to launch the 2026 Impact Investment Prize – $100,000 in impact investment for one exceptional Canadian startup, along with a $25,000 Startup in residence grant powered by Desjardins.
The prize will be awarded on July 10 during Startupfest 2026, alongside our partners Spring and Anges Québec.
🎯 We’re looking for Canadian pre-seed or seed-stage startups that check all three boxes:
✅ Measurable social and/or environmental impact
✅ Concrete monetization strategy with early market validation (initial customers)
✅ Strong, complementary founding team
Applications take only a few minutes to complete.
📣 Help us find Canada’s most promising impact startups –> Please share this opportunity with your network.
Where Impact Gets Real: AI, Risk & Systems Change 📅 June 2, 2026 🕣 8:30 AM – 11:30 AM 🎤 Panel: 9:00 AM – 10:15 AM 📍Location: Finance Montréal, 4 Place Ville-Marie, 1er étage
Through an open and practice-oriented discussion among impact investors, we will explore how these issues are redefining investment decisions and the role of capital as a driver of societal change.
This special edition will revisit key insights from CIVIC’s 2025–2026 Impact Investment Circles through three themes currently reshaping the practice of impact investing:
AI and responsible governance
Impact risk assessment
Systemic investing and systems change
Objectives:
Foster dialogue on key challenges in impact investing
Strengthen the capabilities of investment professionals
Advance the practice of impact investing — for greater impact
We hope you will join us for this engaging conversation bringing together investors, entrepreneurs, and ecosystem leaders.
We look forward to seeing you and exchanging ideas!
The CIVIC team 💚
CIVIC brings together those who want to place impact at the heart of investment decisions, maximizing returns and benefits for both people and the planet.
Spring may be slow to arrive, but at CIVIC we are already preparing for the season ahead! Discover our upcoming events, including our next Impact for Breakfast and the 2026 edition of our flagship event, ImpactFest. We’re also sharing key takeaways from CIVIC’s presence at ChangeNOW 2026 in Paris.
COMMUNITY & EVENTS
Mark your calendars: June Impact for Breakfast
Where Impact Gets Real: AI, Risk & Systems Change
For our Impact for Breakfast on June 2 (8:30–11:30 AM), kicking off the 2026 Sustainable Finance Summit, CIVIC will revisit key insights from the 2025–2026 Impact Investing Circles. Topics explored throughout the year include AI and responsible AI, risk assessment, and systems change investing, featuring speakers actively engaged in impact investing.
This event will highlight impact investing across the investment value chain as a lever for societal change. More information on panelists and registration details will be shared soon.
The 3rd edition of ImpactFest, organized by CIVIC, will take place on July 9 as part of Startupfest.
Under the theme “When Impact Outperforms”, ImpactFest 2026 brings together leading voices from across the impact ecosystem — investors, entrepreneurs, and visionaries — around a bold conviction: purpose-driven capital doesn’t just compete, it redefines performance.
We are pleased to announce that Sam Hasty (Active Impact Investments, Vancouver) and Trish Nixon (Amplify Capital, Toronto) will serve as curators and hosts of the event.
“We are thrilled to be part of this edition as hosts of this fundamental event for the Canadian impact investment community.” — Sam Hasty
For a second year, CIVIC and its partners will present Canadian Impact Investment Awards for impact entrepreneurs. Details on how to apply will be shared in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, save the date: July 9, 8:00 AM – 1:00 PM. Participation is subject to obtaining a Startupfest pass.
ChangeNOW Paris 2026: A turning point for impact investing — and an opportunity for Montreal
At ChangeNOW 2026 in early April, where CIVIC was represented by its co-director Naouel Hanani, one thing became clear: impact investing has entered a new phase.
The challenge is no longer innovation, but deployment — directing capital, structuring effective mechanisms, and scaling solutions. Through her meetings with international stakeholders, Naouel witnessed a more demanding and competitive landscape, where value lies in connecting the right actors and orchestrating alliances.
For Montreal, this is a pivotal moment: seize the opportunity or risk falling behind.
Read more about this shift and what it means for our ecosystem in our latest article on our website.
BUILDING KNOWLEDGE
CIVIC’s Impact Investing Circles offer investors a confidential peer space for reflection and exchange, aimed at advancing the practice of impact investing.
The first cohort, launched in June 2025, will conclude this year with a session on AI and impact. This virtual (free) session was exceptionally open to impact investors interested in joining the next Circles starting in September 2026.
This was a unique opportunity to experience the Circles from the inside, alongside fellow impact investors, both senior and emerging.
At CIVIC, we are committed to elevating the practice of impact investing to drive greater social and environmental outcomes across Canada. Our mission is to support the ecosystem by accompanying impact investors and developing clear insights on the state of impact investing. Through our activities and partnerships, we aim to amplify knowledge and crystallize expertise across the field.
Support CIVIC
CIVIC brings together those who seek to place impact at the heart of investment decisions, maximizing returns for both people and the planet. We equip and convene the impact investing ecosystem to transform capital into lasting change.
At the heart of the Grand Palais, ChangeNOW 2026 was anything but a typical conference. It sent a clear signal: impact investing has entered a new phase, more mature, more structured, and firmly focused on execution.
Attending as a delegate for Québec, our co-director Naouel Hanani took the pulse of a global ecosystem in transformation. Through strategic meetings, in-depth discussions, and subtle signals, one thing became clear: the sector’s center of gravity has shifted.
The conversation is no longer about innovation. The solutions already exist. The challenge now is to direct capital toward them, structure effective financing mechanisms, and scale what works.
Across discussions with actors such as Impact Europe, MedWaves, Impact Hub, and Building Bridges, a clear pattern emerged. The sector is becoming more disciplined and competitive, increasingly aligned with the practices of venture capital and private equity, and driven by stronger expectations for measurable results.
At the same time, value is shifting. It lies less in individual projects and more in the ability to connect investors, entrepreneurs, and institutions, and to build alliances across ecosystems.
For Montreal, this shift creates a real opportunity. With its strong innovation base and engaged community, the city has the potential to play a convening role on the international stage, provided it can organize and scale its efforts collectively.
In this context, CIVIC plays a key role by connecting investors, bridging ecosystems between Québec and abroad, and helping accelerate the deployment of impact capital.
ChangeNOW 2026 makes one thing clear. The future of impact will be shaped by those who can connect, finance, and scale solutions. Montreal has an opportunity to step into that role.
Fauve Doucet is a civic tech entrepreneur and former media creative. After a decade in leading creative agencies — earning more than 20 awards and being named one of Marketing Magazine’s 30 Under 30 — she shifted her career toward social innovation and technology for the public good. She is the founder and CEO of Partage Club, a company building digital infrastructure to help cities mutualize services, rethink urban mobility, and strengthen resilient communities. Named Startup of the Year in 2024, she now leads the company’s international expansion. She also serves on the board of Masse Critique, a Canadian nonprofit working to reduce the socio-environmental footprint of the communications industry.
Sarah Bezeau Gervais, Managing Director, Startup en Résidence, Desjardins
Sarah is the Managing Director of Startup en Résidence, an accelerator-investor powered by Desjardins. She has worked in both large corporations and startups, and has been active on the investor side of the startup ecosystem since 2018. She specializes in early-stage support and financing.
Karine Bah Tahe, CEO and Co-founder, Oasis Learning AI
Karine Bah Tahe is the co-founder and CEO of Oasis Learning AI, an AI-native SaaS platform that detects changes in products, policies, and systems and automatically updates training and knowledge content in real time, ensuring employees always have accurate and up-to-date information. She launched Oasis in 2024 after repeatedly observing the same learning and development challenges: slow processes, outdated content, and high update costs.
Before Oasis, Karine founded Blue Level Training, a service company she scaled to CAD $1.8M in annual revenue, working with clients such as Apple, Colgate, and Netflix. She also worked as an international business journalist across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Sévrine Labelle, Managing Director, Lab Excelles and Fonds Excelles Repreneuriat, BDC Capital
Sévrine Labelle brings 18 years of executive leadership experience and is deeply committed to building a strong, inclusive, sustainable, and innovative economy. At BDC Capital, she leads the $100M Lab Excelles initiative, which includes two flagship $50M funds: Lab Excelles and the Fonds Excelles Repreneuriat (ETA).
Together with her team, she supports ambitious women pursuing entrepreneurship through business creation or acquisition, providing equity capital, strategic guidance, and a strong support ecosystem.
Previously, she served as CEO of Evol, where she led a major transformation and oversaw a portfolio of more than 350 companies.
Sylvain Carle, co-fondateur et co-directeur executif de CIVIC
Sylvain Carle, Moderator
For over 30 years, Sylvain Carle has been dedicated to emerging technologies, combining curiosity, passion, intuition, and ambition. He has developed deep expertise at the intersection of technology, innovation, investment, and human systems.
A strong advocate for collaboration in service of the common good, he has contributed to numerous organizations across both the private and community sectors. A pragmatic optimist, he believes in the potential of technology as a progressive force.
As an investor in innovative initiatives transforming industries, sectors, and regions, he aspires to a future where technology is sustainable, equitable, and human-centered, contributing positively to society and the environment.
