Entrepreneurs

The Black Entrepreneurship Program (BEP) is a partnership between the Government of Canada, Black-led business organizations, and financial institutions. With an investment of up to $221 million over four years, it will help Black Canadian business owners and entrepreneurs grow their businesses and succeed now and into the future.

• Black Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub The Knowledge Hub will be run by partnership between a Black community organization (or consortium of Black community organizations) and a post-secondary or other accredited educational institution in Canada. Ideal partners will be a Black-led organization, equipped with strong networks partnership with a post-secondary institution with the capacity for sound data analysis.

  Interested partners can apply by submitting a concept through the call for concepts. The successful partners will receive up to $5 million over 4 years to develop and implement the Black Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub. The result of this Call for concepts will lead to one consortium receiving the funding.

• Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund The Federal government is supporting Black business owners and entrepreneurs through the Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund that will provide loans of between $25,000 and $250,000. This initiative is part of the Black Entrepreneurship Program, in which the Federal government is investing up to nearly $93 million.

The Ontario government is investing $1.2 million over three years to help young Black entrepreneurs and Black-owned tech start-ups access the resources and tools they need to succeed in the province's changing economy.

The funding will be provided through Ryerson University DMZ's Black Innovation Programs, which support Black-led businesses by connecting them with customers, capital, experts and a community of entrepreneurs and influencers. Read more

The Federal Government announced a $370,000 investment to support women entrepreneurs for Tech Undivided, as part of the Government's recent top-up of $15 million to Canada's first-ever Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES) Ecosystem Fund. With this investment, to be delivered through FedDev Ontario, ventureLAB's Tech Undivided program will support women entrepreneurs in the tech sector to generate revenue and investment capital, by putting them on a sustainable path to growth and long-term success. Areas of focus will include:

• Customer acquisition with ventureLAB will plan and deliver three curated virtual business-to-business customer matchmaking events to provide female-founded tech companies with strategically aligned connections and introductions to potential customers.
• Incremental support in raising investment capital with ventureLAB will organize a series of three virtual Investor Roundtables to enable female-led companies to pitch to a group of highly curated and strategically aligned investment partners.
• Brand visibility and networking connections with ventureLAB will forge a sponsored partnership with Women of Influence to build visibility, networking opportunities and lead generation for its founders in the professional ecosystem.
• Subject matter expert advisory support with ventureLAB will provide hands-on support for entrepreneurs by engaging a pool of external subject matter experts to help improve awareness, visibility and revenue opportunities for female-led ventures, as well as assist them in developing a longer term vision and plan to build their sales teams.

The Ontario government is investing over $12.8 million to immediately expand and enhance culturally appropriate mental health and addictions services for Indigenous peoples, families and communities across the province.

This funding is part of the $176 million being invested in the government's mental health and addictions plan, Roadmap to Wellness. The plan is delivering high-quality care and building a modern, connected and comprehensive mental health and addictions system. Read more

The Ontario government is doubling funding for the Black Youth Action Plan by investing an additional $60 million over three years.

This funding will renew existing Black Youth Action Plan programming, which will include the creation of a new economic empowerment programming stream to support and train young black entrepreneurs and increase economic opportunities. Read more

Futurpreneur is a national, non-profit organization that provides financing, mentoring, and support tools to aspiring business owners from ages 18-39. Their internationally recognized mentoring program matches young entrepreneurs with a business expert from a network of over 2500 volunteer mentors. Read more

The Government of Canada has announced $15.8 million to create green jobs and training opportunities for Canadian youth in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in the energy, forestry, mining, earth sciences and clean technology sectors. To be eligible to receive funding through this program to hire an intern, employers or hiring organizations can be:

• Legal entities validly incorporated or registered in Canada, including for-profit and not-for-profit organizations
• Indigenous organizations and groups, or
• Provincial, territorial, regional and municipal governments and their departments and agencies where applicable.

Applications are now available. Read more

Level UP is a new program from Riipen that gives businesses the opportunity to complete projects with the support of top students. The program allows organizations to work directly with students on 80-hour remote projects, designed around a central project and at no cost to you. 

This program is funded in part by the Government of Canada's Work-Integrated Learning Initiatives. Read more

The Innovative Work-Integrated Learning (I-WIL) Initiative is for post-secondary students through the federal government of Canada. It aims to assist students in finding opportunities related to their studies. I-WIL focuses on short and intensive activities that use technology.

Read more

The South Georgian Bay Enterprise Center' Summer Company program can help you launch and operate a business this summer. The program provides:

• Business training and mentorship to help you get your business up and running.
• Opportunity for a grant up to $3,000 to help you launch your summer business.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to apply to the 2023 Summer Company Program if you are interested in starting a business in Wasaga Beach. Space in the program is limited! Read more