Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island – Photo by TJ Watt
Mobilizing finance for positive impact
We bring people together to learn, connect & collaborate to align finance and investments with climate and sustainability action
About us
The Impact Investing Hub at the University of Victoria is a research and education center dedicated to aligning finance with the net-zero transition. We build capacity, co-create thought leadership, mobilize data and insights, and collaborate with communities, investors, businesses and policymakers to co-develop financial solutions that accelerate the shift to resilient, low-carbon, and equitable local economies. Our work is organized around three interconnected pillars: climate and nature finance, transition finance with a focus on small and midium-sized enterprises and communities, and inclusive finance aiming to reduce inequalities in access to capital for underserved communities.
Our work contributes to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Canada’s commitments to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples by helping to remove knowledge barriers, foster innovation, and co-creating finance solutions that drive inclusive, regenerative and reconciliatory futures. Since 2025, the Hub joined the Accelerating Community Energy Transformation (ACET) initiative as an independent division leading ACET’s Business & Finance Innovation research stream to accelerate community energy transformation.
Our focus areas
Climate Finance
We explore financial pathways that enable investments in clean technologies, renewable energy, ocean innovation, and nature-based solutions. Our work uncovers barriers and develops strategies that align capital flows with net-zero commitments, biodiversity goals, and climate-positive futures.
Transition Finance
We support community-led energy transformation by strengthening sustainable and impact finance capacity among SMEs, startups, and local innovators. Our focus is on mobilizing ESG-aligned and impact-driven capital to accelerate innovation, enhance competitiveness, and build long-term resilience.
Inclusive Finance
We investigate systemic barriers that limit access to capital for women, Indigenous entrepreneurs, and racialized communities. By co-creating innovative financial solutions, we advance inclusion, opportunity, and shared prosperity, ensuring that the benefits of the energy transition are distributed with equity and justice.
What we do
We follow an integrated, holistic and solutions-focused approach to achieve our mission. Our activities and initiatives are designed to advance the following three pillars which address some of the key challenges holding back impact investing and sustainable finance: knowledge and skills gaps, lack of research and collaboration, and information and data gaps.
Education & capacity building
We design training programs, workshops, and experiential learning opportunities that build skills and knowledge for students, academics, practitioners, and community actors. Our goal is to develop talent and strengthen capacity across sectors to understand, design, and apply impact investing strategies.
Research & engagement
We collaborate on research to co-develop innovative finance solutions by leveraging multidisciplinary expertise, community leadership and industry experience. Through design labs and cross-sector engagement, we aim to accelerate capital mobilization to drive sustainable and inclusive outcomes.
Data, resources & toolkits
We provide access to data, curated resources, and practical tools that support decision-making and action in sustainable finance and impact investing. Our resources help students, businesses, investors, and community members navigate complexity, share best practices, and scale impactful solutions.
Our impact
We strive to create positive impacts across all our activities for students, researchers, industry and community partners in British Columbia, Canada, and beyond.
108
Students trained through summer school & student-led impact fund
73
Public events, community engagements & industry collaborations
29
Funded internships & coops for students to build skills in impact finance
181
Design Lab Participants from industry, academia & government
Featured events
This webinar introduces the Community Energy Finance Navigator, a platform designed to show national patterns of financing structures and sources of capital enabling community energy projects. Using survey data collected from project teams from across Canada, the various dashboards show how different community projects create their capital stack, structure ownership and deliver community impact. The webinar includes a demonstration of the platform, followed by live commentary from community energy experts.
