CF Academy · Living Lab — Climate Finance Advisors

New program · January 2027 cohort

Sustainable & Impact Investing Certificatefor Financial Professionals

Four mornings of institutional-calibre training designed to make you effective from day one.

Applications close November 2, 2026

Admission by application: a 500-word statement of interest and your LinkedIn profile. Applying for a scholarship? Say so in your statement.

When: Thursdays, 8:30–12:00January 14 to February 4, 2027
Where: Station FinTech Montréal4 Place Ville Marie, Montréal
Investment: $2,850Certificate + access to the CF Academy community of practice
Cohort: Limited to 15 participantsIncluding 5 full scholarships

How it works

From research to the investment committee

Each session moves through three stages, so you leave every morning with something you can use.

01
The research
The leading academic evidence on sustainable and impact investing
02
The frameworks
The tools and frameworks practitioners actually use
03
The application
Hands-on work on a live institutional mandate

The finale: you defend your portfolio recommendations before a mock investment committee.

The program

Four modules, four Thursday mornings

Module 01
Public assets
ESG integration in equities and fixed income
Module 02
Private assets & alternatives
Private equity, venture capital, infrastructure and hedge funds
Module 03
Themes
Climate and environmental finance; nature, biodiversity and blue finance; circular economy; gender and child-lens investing; Indigenous finance
Module 04
Emerging techniques
Impact, social, blended and structured finance, where financial engineering meets social innovation to close funding gaps and de-risk economies

Your faculty

Taught by people who have done the work

Led sustainable finance at major banks
Executed transactions
Allocated capital
Teach at universities

Who it’s for

Built for financial professionals

Portfolio managers
Investment committee members
Investment advisors
CIOs
Bankers
Analysts
New graduates

You’ll build integrated, impact-driven portfolios across public markets, private assets and hedge funds, and across themes from climate and nature to Indigenous and gender-lens finance.

How to apply

Applications close November 2

Apply by email

01
Send your application by November 2
A 500-word statement of interest and your LinkedIn profile to info@climatefinanceadvisors.ca. Applying for a scholarship? Say so in your statement.
02
Receive your invitation
Accepted candidates will receive an invitation to register.
03
Cohort announced by December 1
The final cohort will be confirmed and announced.

Private cohorts

Want to train your team?

We also deliver the program to boards, investment committees, executive committees, investment teams, banking teams and client groups.

See tailored training

Tailored training

Looking for one of the following formats? Let’s talk.

Board-level presentations
Investment committee presentations
C-suite training programs
Manager training programs
Analyst training programs
Certificate programs

A living lab

CF Academy is a Living Lab: a safe space to debate, discuss and conceptualize new ideas and solutions to solve complex challenges.

An open innovation platform mobilizing the public, private and third sectors
A place for interdisciplinary collaboration and co-creation
A user-centered, practical forum for deep learning

What makes CF Academy different

An independent, non-commercial forum where insights are free from commercial influence
Deep learning that combines academic literature, scientific evidence and industry experience
A space for meaningful dialogue — an intellectual safe zone that nurtures curiosity, problem solving and the emergence of bold ideas
An emphasis on practical application: tools and insights that strengthen portfolio-level strategy and institutional decision-making

What participants gain

Access to a community of decision-makers — researchers, capital allocators, and senior leaders — united in their commitment to mobilizing capital deliberately to address systemic challenges
A rigorous academic foundation to support the development of institutional sustainability theses, delivered by leading researchers from around the world
The opportunity to debate emerging sustainability topics in real time and learn from high-impact case studies, illuminating pathways for credible action
Time-efficient and cost-effective access to top scientific research and deep community exchange to shape real-world implementation

Past events

50+ institutions in attendance.

October 2026

Unseen Hands — Child Labour & Modern Slavery in Supply Chains

This event explored how finance can become a force for ending child labour and modern slavery in global supply chains and the role investors, institutions, and capital allocators play in either perpetuating or dismantling these systems. Together, we examined what responsible capital looks like in practice: tracing where money flows, asking harder questions of the assets we hold, and building a financial culture that refuses to look away.

Keynote speaker

Nasreen Sheikh

Nasreen Sheikh is a survivor of child labour and modern slavery, born in an undocumented village on the border of India and Nepal, a place where births went unrecorded and the paths available to girls were narrow and often forced. Around ten years old, Nasreen was put to work in a textile factory, sewing garments for twelve to fifteen hours a day, producing clothes destined for global supply chains. Today she is an internationally recognized human rights advocate, social entrepreneur, and one of the most compelling voices in the global movement to end modern slavery in our lifetime.

March 2026

Pathways for Indigenous Finance

This event explored how finance can become a vehicle for economic reconciliation, closing the Indigenous finance gap and enabling communities to build the futures they envision. Together, we examined pathways for scaling capital in ways that honour self-determination, resilience, and shared prosperity.

Keynote speaker

Janice Makokis

Janice Makokis is a nehiyaw iskwew (Cree woman), legal scholar, and fierce advocate for Indigenous rights and self-determination. Rooted in Saddle Lake Cree Nation and guided by the teachings of Elders, her work bridges Indigenous laws and contemporary systems with courage and compassion. Janice reminds us that reconciliation requires truth, accountability, and structural change. She inspired us to see finance not simply as capital, but as a pathway to restore governance, protect future generations, and uphold Indigenous laws and sovereignty on their own terms.

PanelistsJeff Cyr (Otipêy) · Dominique Colin (Yänonhchia’ Housing Finance) · Alexandra Chamberlin (McConnell Foundation) · Roxanne Turcotte (BDC) · David Boisvert (Fondaction)

January 2026

Charting Tomorrow | 2026 Trends

Our first CF Academy event looked ahead to 2026, uncovering the trends that will redefine how capital is stewarded in a rapidly changing world. We mapped the signals shaping sustainable finance, from new market architectures to transformative investment themes, offering investors and financial institutions a clearer horizon to navigate what comes next. We also presented our findings from a recent manager survey and hosted a keynote speaker to talk to us about the link between finance, the mining industry, and the effects they have on forced child soldiers.

Keynote speaker

Michel Chikwanine

Michel’s story, from child soldier to international peace advocate, is a testament to human resilience and the power of hope in the face of extraordinary adversity. His voice reminded us why sustainable and impact-aligned finance matters: because the choices we make with capital reverberate far beyond balance sheets. Michel helped us explore what it means to lead with integrity, rebuild trust, and use finance as a force for dignity and possibility.