Make Purpose Strategy Central to Competitive Growth.
Purpose Strategy, Risk and Disclosure Define which Companies Survive the Next Market Cycle.
Rethink Strategy
The Canadian Purpose Economy Project (CPEP) defines social purpose businesses as those that “profitably solve the problems of people and the planet without causing harm to either”.
This is no longer an ESG side stream. By 2030, CPEP forecasts that at least 25% of Canadian companies will operate under a purpose-integrated model. These firms are already gaining investor preference, regulatory clarity, and capital flow advantage.
Firms that don’t integrate purpose into core strategic architecture will lose access to favorable financing and procurement channels as capital shifts toward measurable impact. This is not ideological; it’s structural.
Integrate Purpose Directly into Corporate Strategy
CPEP’s eight-step strategy integration framework converts purpose into operational structure.
This includes:
Setting a 10–20 year vision tied to a measurable societal outcome.
Realigning corporate strategy to purpose goals, not the other way around.
Defining material priorities using stakeholder and market data.
Establishing 10-year stretch goals and 3-year operating targets.
Recalibrating corporate scorecards and incentives.
Shifting the business model to close the gap between purpose and profit.
This is why Maple Leaf Foods, TELUS, and Co-operators are outperforming slower incumbents on investor trust metrics: they’ve hardwired purpose into strategy.
Market consequence: By 2027–2028, capital markets will increasingly weight integrated strategy and purpose disclosures in investment decisions. Companies without strategy alignment will fall outside preferred investable universes.
Build Trust Through Purpose-Led Culture and Values
Purpose strategy fails without cultural and workforce alignment. CPEP’s data highlights three non-negotiables.
At least one corporate value must directly reflect the company’s social purpose.
Purpose literacy must be measurable, employee training, supplier alignment, and stakeholder engagement.
Internal governance must tie purpose alignment to compensation and performance.
TELUS, BCLC, and Coast Capital already monitor employee purpose alignment through engagement surveys tied to executive scorecards.
Market consequence: Companies unable to build internal alignment will face higher talent attrition, lower employer brand value, and increased capital cost due to perceived execution risk.
Govern With Purpose as Fiduciary Duty
CPEP’s Purpose Governance Guidelines redefine board obligations. Purpose oversight is no longer optional; it’s treated as a fiduciary standard in early adopter markets.
Best practice now includes:
Board-level ownership of purpose performance.
Integration of purpose into strategic planning and ERM.
Director training and annual purpose audits.
Linking executive compensation to purpose KPIs.
TELUS and Coast Capital are integrating purpose metrics into board risk and strategy committees.
Market consequence: Within five years, boards that cannot demonstrate purpose governance will face investor de-rating and exclusion from major ESG indexes and institutional capital pools.
Manage Risk to and From Purpose With Precision
The 2024 CPEP Risk Management Guide introduces a decisive framing:
Risks to purpose: anything that prevents achievement of stated purpose (e.g., partner failure, regulatory shifts).
Risks from purpose: exposures created by pursuing that purpose (e.g., capital intensity, operational fragility).
Top risk vectors include:
Misalignment between purpose and business model
Supply chain vulnerabilities
Investor skepticism and reputational exposure
Regulatory tightening around disclosure
Dependency on ecosystem performance
Early movers like TELUS and Coast Capital embed purpose risk directly into enterprise risk frameworks, integrating scenario analysis and dual materiality assessment.
Market consequence: Firms that treat purpose as a comms function will face unpriced risk events, value erosion, and investor distrust during volatility cycles.
Elevate Disclosure to a Capital Access Tool
The Purpose Disclosures Guidance outlines 24 disclosure objectives across purpose definition, theory of change, governance, strategy, risk, and capital allocation.
The design is intentional: interoperability with IFRS S1, ISSB, TCFD, and Integrated Reporting frameworks. This means:
Purpose data is investor-grade.
Gaps in disclosure will map directly to higher capital costs.
Firms that standardize disclosure will be prioritized in sustainable finance allocations.
Unilever, Maple Leaf Foods and Co-operators are early adopters. Coast Capital’s integration of purpose disclosure into its annual reporting demonstrates how purpose reporting accelerates access to purpose-linked capital.
Market consequence: By 2026–2027, laggards will be locked out of preferential financing structures and ESG procurement streams.
Measure With Precision
CPEP is explicit: measurement is the credibility filter.
Firms must combine:
10+ year purpose vision
3–5 strategic impact goals
Process metrics (employee and supplier alignment, stakeholder engagement)
Performance metrics (impact on communities, customers, ecosystems).
TELUS measures digital equity impact by connected underserved communities. Coast Capital measures income mobility outcomes tied to learning access.
Market consequence: By 2030, companies unable to produce auditable purpose performance data will be discounted by institutional investors as strategic noise, not value.
Shift Business Models to Survive the Next Market Turn
CPEP is unambiguous: “It takes one to three years to transition from adopting a social purpose to embedding purpose in your business model”.
During that window, companies face execution risk, cultural friction, and capital allocation pressure. Firms that build purpose-capable business models will exit that period with:
Lower risk profiles
More resilient supply chains
Stronger stakeholder alignment
Access to purpose-linked finance
Market consequence: Purpose model laggards will not simply trail, they will lose eligibility for critical growth capitaland be priced out of competitive procurement.
Recommendations for CEOs
Make Purpose Strategy, Not PR. If purpose isn’t built into capital allocation and strategy cycles, it won’t survive downturns.
Govern Purpose Like Revenue. Boards must treat purpose oversight as fiduciary duty or lose investor confidence.
Price Purpose Risk. Put purpose in ERM or prepare for valuation shocks.
Disclose To Compete. No credible disclosure = higher capital cost.
Measure Or Be Discounted. Non-measurable purpose is indistinguishable from greenwash.
Accelerate Model Shift. Waiting for “readiness” is not neutral; it’s value destructive.
Bottom Line: Purpose Will Decide Who Keeps Access to Capital
CPEP’s 2024 reports make it clear: firms that treat purpose as strategy, risk, and disclosure infrastructure will secure investor trust, lower capital costs, and durable market positioning.
Firms that don’t will be filtered out of financing pipelines, procurement ecosystems, and index inclusion. This isn’t a branding contest. It’s a market survival filter.
