Social Purpose Enterprises: Case Studies for Social Change presents case studies of twelve organizations that operate in a growing niche within the Canadian social economy: market-based entities supported by a nonprofit organization and operated for the benefit of a workforce who lives on the margins of society.

Using a variety of research methods, the contributors examine the work of social purpose enterprises in a range of businesses including food services, child care, furniture, courier services, and microfinance. Combining the experience of academics and practitioners, each chapter analyses the economic, social, and policy implications of the case.

Building on research published in Researching the Social Economy (2010) and Businesses with a Difference (2013), Social Purpose Enterprises provides a valuable resource for those involved in the growing push to encourage market-based solutions for those on the social margins.

Jack Quarter is a professor and co-director of the Social Economy Centre at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. He is the author of Canada's Social Economy and Crossing the Line. He edited How to Start a Worker's Co-op and co-edited Partners in Enterprise: The Worker Ownership Phenomenon.

Jack Quarter's profile page

Sherida Ryan is a post-doctoral fellow, co-director of the Social Economy Centre and faculty member with the Adult Education and Community Development Program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

Sherida Ryan's profile page

Andrea Chan is a doctoral candidate in the Adult Education and Community Development Program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

Andrea Chan's profile page

‘The book offers an excellent starting position for researchers and practioners dedicated to finding solutions for local social development in a rapidly growing field intended to serve people living and working at the social margins.’

Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector quarterly vol 45:01:2016

‘This book does an excellent job at explaining the inner-workings of social purpose institutions.’

Voluntas May 2016

‘This book does an excellent job at explaining the inner workings of social purpose institutions.’

Voluntas vol 27:04:2016