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

Added February 19, 2021

 National Ecosystem Fund

The Federal government is investing up to $53 million to develop and implement the National Ecosystem Fund to support Black-led business organizations across the country.

This will help Black business owners and entrepreneurs access funding and capital, mentorship, financial planning services, and business training.

This initiative is part of the Black Entrepreneurship Program, in which the Federal government is investing up to nearly $93 million. Read more

The Ontario government is investing $6 million over the next three years to help Black children and youth achieve their educational and career goals by creating the new Student and Family Advocates initiative in Ottawa, Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area.

The advocates will provide community-based and culturally relevant supports to Black students ages 6-25 and act as advocates for Black families within the education system. Read more

Added February 19, 2021

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

Added March 5, 2021

The Ontario government is providing over $6.2 million to help create safe and affordable housing for Indigenous people in Orillia.

The funding is being delivered through the Social Services Relief Fund and will support those experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless during COVID-19. Read more 

Added February 19, 2021

The Ontario government is allocating an additional $120 million to help municipalities and Indigenous community partners protect the health and safety of vulnerable people during COVID-19.

This investment builds upon the second phase of social services relief funding announced this fall and brings the government's total allocation to $510 million. Read more

The government of Ontario is providing up to $10 million through the Support for People and Jobs Fund to Indigenous-owned small and medium sized businesses to help them with much needed capital as the province begins to safely and gradually reopen the economy.

Loans of up to $50,000 will be available to businesses that are either ineligible for, or unable to access, existing federal and provincial COVID-19 response initiatives for small businesses. Loans will be available through Aboriginal Financial Institutions. Up to 50% of each loan will be in the form of a non-repayable grant, with no interest due on the loan portion until December 31, 2022.

Businesses may use these funds to cover general expenses such as payroll, rent, utilities and taxes. They may also be used towards increasing production capacity, developing new products, moving to online marketing, or to make improvements to accommodate social distancing requirements, such as the installation of plexiglass barriers.

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

The Federal Government has announced an additional $20.1 million in support for Futurpreneur Canada to continue to support young entrepreneurs across Canada (aged 18-39) who are facing challenges due to COVID-19. 

The funding will allow Futurpreneur Canada to provide payment relief for its clients for up to 12 months. Please see link for more details. 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

Added February 19, 2021

The Ontario government is providing $7 million to help increase access to mental health and addiction services for postsecondary students during COVID-19.

The funding will provide more supports for students, both on-campus and virtually and can also be used to address the needs of vulnerable and diverse groups, such as Indigenous students, LGBTQ students and students with disabilities. Read more

Added February 19, 2021

The Ontario government is investing $6 million over the next three years to help Black children and youth achieve their educational and career goals by creating the new Student and Family Advocates initiative in Ottawa, Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area.

The advocates will provide community-based and culturally relevant supports to Black students ages 6-25 and act as advocates for Black families within the education system. Read more

Added February 19, 2021

As part of the Federal COVID-19 Emergency Response Plan, an additional $80 million in funding will be provided for the Student Work Placement Program to support up to 20,000 post-secondary students across Canada to obtain paid work experience related to their field of study. Additionally, funding through the program will temporarily be more flexible:

• "Net new" hire restrictions have been removed. All new co-op students are now considered for funding (not just new roles or more students than previous years).
• Up to 75% in wage subsidies (to a max. of $7500) per co-op student hired.
• Shortened work terms may now be eligible for funding (i.e.: work terms that begin after May).
• Up to 75% of the wage subsidy may be provided in advance, reducing up-front hiring costs.
• Co-op students can work from home.

Read more

The 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 2021 Summer Company Program if you are interested in starting a business in Wasaga Beach. Space in the program is limited! Read more

The Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC) WILWorks program provides wage subsidies for student placements in manufacturing and related sectors (e.g. North American Industry Classification - NAICS codes 31-33). ​​The program is offered as part of the Student Work Placement Program (SWPP).

Subsidies are 75% of the cost of wages, up to a maximum of $7,500 per student placement.  Students can work from home.

Program is in effect until March 31, 2021. Apply now