Our Story

The genesis of the Centre began in 2003, when we were born through a combination of serendipity and innovative thinking. Tonya Surman of the Commons Group contacted Margie Zeidler of Urbanspace Property Group, who had developed the very successful 401 Richmond community. Margie had already been developing an idea for a shared workspace alongside a few colleagues. the circle continued to expand and soon Mary Rowe of Ideas That Matter, Pat Tobin of Heritage Canada and Eric Meerkamper of DECODE were sitting together to imagine the possibilities of a new model. This combination of creative energy made the perfect storm.

The Questions

The group knew that the social mission sector faces capacity and resource challenges. As a result, too many organizations were working out of isolated and substandard facilities. Our questions were: How can we improve access to office facilities, lower the cost of administration and let organizations focus on their mission? How can we tear down the silos that keep organizations apart? How can we best become a catalyst for social change?

The Answers

Part of the answer came in the form of the Robertson Building at 215 Spadina Avenue, which had been recently purchased by Urbanspace Property Group. Once the decision to go ahead was made in January 2004, the Zeidler family stepped up and offered to pay for the leasehold improvements in a 6,000 sq ft space on the first floor. The Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Harbinger Foundation stepped forward with core operating grants to help with start-up and operational costs. Tonya Surman volunteered for six months to get the project off the ground and the Centre for Social Innovation Spadina opened its doors to 14 founding tenants in June 2004.

The Results and Growth

The model worked. The members were happy. The community was drawn to the space and the small staff team now had the room to begin supporting new projects. When the opportunity to assume more space in the building came up in late 2006, the Centre took over an additional 14,000 sq ft. Since opening the new 4th floor space in March 2007, the Centre for Social Innovation has become home to over 180 social mission groups in sectors ranging from arts and environment to social justice and education. For them – and for us – sharing space together means more than simply being office mates. It means sharing ideas, strategies and experience. It means supporting each other. It means working together to build our profile and to connect with new communities. CSI members collaborate, learn, grow and become more resilient in ways never imagined in isolation.

Beyond CSI

But the community of members was only a first step. The Centre has created a space of shared learning for the whole of Toronto’s social mission community, hosting hundreds of workshops and welcoming tens of thousands of visitors since opening our doors. We’ve helped launch or support a half-dozen emerging initiatives that promise to make waves across the city and beyond. We’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of what’s possible when spaces are created for social innovation to thrive.

CSI 2.0, 3.0 ...

In 2010, the Centre for Social Innovation bought a building. This was a massive step, fuelled by our social finance innovation - The Community Bond. With support of our entire community network, we purchased, renovated and filled the Centre for Social Innovation Annex at 720 Bathurst Street. We're poised to add another 300 members to our dynamic community, building our business model and achieving greater impact than we ever imagined back in 2004.

Next up is our new development at Regent Park, Canada's largest public housing community. We're exicted by this new challenge and the potential to create a bridge between communities that are too often disconnected.

As for after that - we try not to get ahead of ourselves! But we're reminded that our mission is not to create shared workspace - but to generate social innovation. We're going to muster every possible ounce of energy to begin digging deeper, to explore the potential of our model and our community, and to create the world we all know is possible.

For more on the CSI Story download Emergence: The Story of the Centre for Social Innovation.