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.
