Starting a business

Employment Insurance Special Benefits for Self-Employed People

This program provides various types of assistance to eligible employment insurance recipients who want to start their own business.

Aboriginal Banking

This program offers financial products and consulting services to Aboriginal entrepreneurs to assist them with business start-up, financial planning, business plan development, and market and product development.

Growth Capital for Aboriginal Business program

BDC's specialized financing increases access to capital for Aboriginal entrepreneurs wanting to expand an existing business or start a new one, on or off a reserve in Canada.

Business and Market Development

This program provides new entrepreneurs and expanding small businesses with funding to help them acquire the necessary expertise to pursue new business ideas and new markets for their products or services.

Fish Plant Workers Employment Assistance Program

This program provides new entrepreneurs and expanding small business with funding to employ fish plant workers negatively affected by the closure of a fish plant.

Small Business Counseling

If you are planning to start a small business, or are already in business but need some counselling about the skills and experience usually required to start a business; the Information needed to establish a business into new markets; or business difficulties.

Economic Diversification and Growth Enterprises Program

This program provides incentives to encourage significant new business investment in the province to help diversify the economy and stimulate new private sector job creation, particularly in rural areas.

Canada Small Business Financing Program

The Canada Small Business Financing Program helps you with your financing needs. Under the program, the Government of Canada makes it easier for small businesses to get loans from financial institutions by sharing the risk with lenders.

Seed Capital Initiative

The Seed Capital Program provides repayable, unsecured loans to start, expand or improve a small business.

Self-Employed Persons Program

The Self-Employed Persons Program seeks to attract applicants who intend and are able to become self-employed in Canada.

Office of Literacy and Essential Skills

The Office of Literacy and Essential Skills provides information and free resources to help improve the literacy and essential skills of adult Canadians.