MaRS, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Public Health Agency of Canada are helping to open a new way to fund social programs with the launch of the country’s first social impact bond in healthcare.
The bond was announced at MaRS on Friday by Minister of Health Jane Philpott. It will fund the $4-million Community Hypertension Prevention Initiative to help people with pre-hypertension control their blood pressure.
The social impact bond is a form of “pay for success” financing in which private investors will cover the running costs of the program and be paid out by the Public Health Agency of Canada at the end. The size of the financial profit—or loss—they will make depends on how well the program performs at preventing hypertension.