impact measurement in Canada

When we announce a release, we often talk about new features or enhancements. What we often don’t talk about, but is a huge part of b.world’s story, is our partnership with Common Approach to Impact Measurement (Common Approach) and our alignment to the Common Impact Data Standard (Data Standard). So, to start off 2026, we’d like to dedicate this post to that very topic.

Let’s start with the 411. 

Common Approach is a Canadian non-profit organization. As their name suggests, everything they do is dedicated to creating a streamlined—or common—approach to impact measurement. Part of this arsenal is the Data Standard, a common language for organizations to map their impact frameworks and data. The Data Standard is being used by the Government of Canada’s $755M CAD Social Finance Fund (SFF). The SFF provides repayable investment capital, such as loans and equity investments, to the social finance market. All organizations participating in the SFF—social purpose organizations (SPOs), social finance intermediaries (SFIs), and fund wholesalers—are required to use the Data Standard to track the impact of these investments.

And how do organizations even map their impact data to the Data Standard? By using software that is aligned to the Data Standard. b.world is one of a few such software platforms.

the Social Finance Fund impact reporting process

Alright, so you’re an SPO participating in the SFF. You’ve selected an aligned software. Now you can just enter your measurement data in the software, take a screenshot of what you’ve entered, send it to the SFI who’s funding your organization, and your reporting is all done, right? It’s not quite that simple, but it’s close! 

First, let’s look at how the SFF is structured. The SFF has designated three wholesalers (Boann Social Impact, Realize Capital Partners, CAP Finance) to act as investment managers of the Fund. Each wholesaler then selects SFIs (investors) to receive funds; as of the end of 2024, 34 SFIs had been selected. The SFIs, in turn, choose SPOs to invest in—based on organizational interests, and adherence to specific social equity and gender guidelines—with the goal of funding organizations that have historically been marginalized in Canada. As of the end of 2024, 83 SPOs had been selected for funding by SFIs. (Source)

Circling back to the impact measurement piece, one of the SFF's goals is to support and strengthen impact measurement practices within the social finance ecosystem. A strong social finance and social innovation ecosystem must have impact measurement that is relevant, trustworthy, community-driven, inclusive, achievable, and interoperable. This is where Common Approach comes in! They have been tasked with helping ensure the SFF's impact is carefully measured. 

SPOs who are receiving funds from an SFI must report their impact to the SFI. The SFIs then have to report to the wholesalers, who report to the SFF. All of this will be done using the Common Impact Data Standard, which was developed to make impact measurement useful to everyone and reduce the workload over time. How is this reporting done? Please read on.

impact reporting functionality: JSON-LD export and import

The key piece of functionality in b.world that enables SPOs to report to their SFI(s) is the ability to export logframes and results in what Common Approach calls an “impact data capsule.” An impact data capsule is a JSON-LD file. This is the format prescribed by Common Approach for exchanging impact measurement data. Although b.world has had the JSON-LD export feature for a while now, our latest release aligns b.world to the latest version of the Data Standard, which is v3.2. 

JSON-LD is one of the logframe export options

Exported JSON-LD file aligned to Data Standard v3.2 

Here is where things get interesting: with this release, SFIs (or any user receiving data) can now also import JSON-LD files into b.world. This new functionality opens the door for SFIs to easily view data across their full investee portfolio. Moreover, using the functionality in b.world’s Results section, SFIs can calculate both longitudinal impact for a single metric in one investee’s project, as well as aggregate impact across their portfolio by combining related indicator metrics from across their investees’ work.

New JSON-LD import function 

Import dialogue screen for new JSON-LD import function 

next up: the Social Finance Fund companion module

One of the next major steps to fully pull SFIs into the fold is to align b.world to the SFF Companion Module, an addition to the Data Standard Basic Tier. 

The SFF Companion Module captures organizational information about investees, including: 

• Demographic data for investees’ board members and management team (e.g., equity-deserving group representation)

• Additional organizational context, including sectors served, primary populations served, provinces and territories served, etc. 

  
  

This additional information is crucial for determining whether a fund is effectively reaching its intended targets, including equity-deserving groups, specific geographies, and priority areas of focus. It allows SFIs and wholesalers to interpret impact results in light of who is being reached and where, not just what outcomes are being achieved.

Once b.world is aligned to the SFF Companion Module, the JSON-LD files exported by SFIs will include the organization and demographic information alongside impact metrics. When the exported JSON-LD files are passed to the wholesalers, they will, in turn, be able to import them into b.world (or another aligned software) and view the SPOs’ impact metrics and organizational composition information. 

connect with Common Approach

If you’re a Canadian social purpose organization interested in participating in the Social Finance Fund, we encourage you to visit to learn more. If you’re a Canadian social purpose organization receiving SFF funding, or have applied and would like to get a head start on reporting, we encourage you to reach out to Common Approach’s Social Finance Fund team! They will point you to resources, learning opportunities, and other resources. 

In the meantime, as always, we love to hear feedback from our users about our platform. The more we learn from our users, the better we can ensure that b.world aligns with your current and future needs and desires in project design, impact measurement, and storytelling.