Armed with 25 years in the social housing sector, Downing began looking for solutions to the lack of capital for building apartments that were relatively affordable to Victoria's working and middle-class families.

"We looked across the country and internationally at what kind of social finance vehicles were out there," he recounts. "We found lots of stuff."

The answer that went to the top of his self-styled "agenda" was an idea called social finance. He summarizes it simply: "It is financing, it does create a return for people who invest, but it has a social purpose. My agenda is to ramp this up in our own region."

The model he hopes to bring to southern Vancouver Island is heavily inspired by an entire network of community investment co-operatives operating in Nova Scotia. More than 40 separate local funds have so far redirected roughly $50 million into local projects in the 15 years they've been available in the Maritime province, he estimates.

So, where does all that money come from? Simple: from the neighbours. More accurately, from their Registered Retirement Savings funds.

"They're locally, community-controlled funds that then invest in local projects that benefit the local community, but are RRSP-eligible for local investors," Downing explains.

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