Hands

Tuesday, January 16th, 2007
I came across a program run by Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) that has assisted 3600 low income individuals with a savings program so that they could go back to school, learn a trade or start a business. SEDI’s learn /save is the largest such project in the world.The idea is simple. Learn/savematches the savings each participant puts aside in an Individual Development Account (IDA), usually at a rate of $3 matched for every $1 saved to a maximum of $1,500. The matched contribution puts low-income Canadians on an equal footing with higher income Canadians who can afford to put away more of their own money. As of May 2006, participants have saved over $3.7 million and leveraged over $10 million in matched contributions. For the goal of education, skills training, and education support, participants have used over $6 million in matched credits. Recruitment for the program is now complete.

With a partnership from HRSDC funding was substabtially from the federal government. It seems to me that this was a shrewd investment in people. If almost 4000 people became self sufficient for life, the cost of $2500 per person is miniscule.

With all the criticism we hear about government waste and our tendency to lump all HRSDC programs as failures, it is good to hear about a success. Is there anyone else doing this kind of work or interested in the opportunity?