Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program: Access to Capital
The Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program provides access to capital and business opportunities to Indigenous entrepreneurs and business owners in Canada.
On this page
About the program
This program promotes entrepreneurship in Indigenous communities and seeks to increase the number of viable Indigenous-owned businesses. The program has 2 components: access to capital and business opportunities.
Access to capital
The program provides Indigenous businesses with access to non-repayable contributions for:
- supporting eligible business proposals
- leveraging additional funds
The National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA) manages the program and distributes the funding through a network of 59 Aboriginal Financial Institutions (AFIs) across Canada. The AFIs can offer capital and other business support services to Indigenous businesses. To find out more about AFIs, visit What is an Aboriginal Financial Institution.
The amount of funding available for a business proposal depends on its scope and its estimated budget. Individual Indigenous entrepreneurs may receive up to $99,999 in funding assistance.
Who can apply?
Eligible recipients include:
- First Nation and Inuit communities and their governments, including tribal councils
- Indigenous individuals
- Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations and associations, except those with charitable or religious purposes
- businesses owned and controlled by Indigenous peoples
- Canadian owned and controlled banks, credit unions and trust companies authorized to make commercial loans and are provincially or federally regulated
- private equity providers
- provincial or federal crown corporations
- municipal governments, labour organizations, universities, colleges and other learning institutions
Eligibility varies between AFIs. Consult with your local AFI to see if you are eligible.
Deadline
There is no deadline to apply.
How to apply
To apply for funding, please contact your local AFI directly or the NACCA.
Contact us
For any inquiry, please contact the NACCA.