Montreal

  • Impact Investors Breakfast at Impactfest 2026

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    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.

    🎟️ You must purchase a Startupfest ticket to attend the Impact Investor Breakfast. Register for our event to take advantage of a 15% discount.

    Exclusive impact investors breakfast

    Looking forward to seeing you there!

    Date: July 9th 2026

    time: 8 h to 9 h

    Place: Grand Quai du Port de Montréal, sky stage (Startupfest)

  • Discover Impactfest 2026!

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    Dear CIVIC community,

    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), and Erica Barbosa (Eclipx Family Office). 

    We’ll also hear directly from founders at different stages of growth, a chain-reaction panel with Jennifer McDonald (Cycle Momentum), Marc-André Roberge (Nectar), and Peter Kotzeff (Quilt).

    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

    Get you tickets for Startupest to access to ImpactFest with a 15% discount

    Thanks to our Impactfest partners this year

  • ChangeNOW Paris 2026: A tipping point for impact investing and an opportunity for Montreal

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    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.