CLMPC research has discovered that, in this context, socio-economic performance is broadly defined. It can mean that the investment must yield durable employment and income opportunities for Canadians generally. It can also mean specific investment returns to the economic life and development of disadvantaged regions and communities (see Section vi). It can also mean workplace improvements through, for instance, greater employee participation and new approaches to human resource management issues (see Section ix). Finally, it can also mean advancing corporate citizenship with regard such social priorities as sustainable development, cultural enrichment, and consumer protection - achieved through social auditing and the conscientious investor role of some funds.
To a greater or lesser extent, all labour-sponsored funds operate with reference to economic and social criteria. It is important to recognize, however, that no two funds look exactly alike in this respect. At the very least, frameworks determined by government legislators ensure that funds in their jurisdictions will be attentive to basic aims, such as making job-producing investments in the small business sector. Additionally, some boards of directors have developed comprehensive private mandates for bettering aspects of the social status and economic position of Canadians through investing.
It is well known that the economic recession of the early 1980s heralded the rise of national and provincial unemployment rates from which the Canadian economy has never fully recovered. It was also discussed earlier that this event, more than any other, precipitated the renewed interest of workers and unions in capital markets. Consequently, all labour-sponsored funds function with a jobs mandate.
All labour-sponsored funds emphasize the creation of employment. This explains the significance attached to small and medium-sized companies, both new and established, since, by all accounts, it is they that have been predominantly responsible for net job growth across the country for the past decade or longer. Furthermore, according to Statistics Canada, it is the youngest of such enterprises that generate the most jobs, despite encountering impediments to financing.Endnote 29
Along with job creation, some funds also identify the maintenance and protection of existing employment as a priority. This usually translates into investments in small and medium-sized firms situated in mature and traditional industries that are undergoing profound restructuring and disruption. In the contemporary Canadian economy, high profile illustrations of these can be observed in all settings, both central and regional, urban and rural. Since the mid-1980s, the Fonds de solidarité has invested strategically to pre-empt permanent job losses incurred through plant shutdowns or downsizings.