Ontario Young Entrepreneur Startup Funding
Young entrepreneurs in Ontario can receive funding and business support services to help start a summer company. The Government of Ontario has recognized the need to support young entrepreneurs gain first hand business experience while they are still completing their education. This has led to the development of the highly successful Summer Company Program.
Young Entrepreneur Summer Company Start-Up Funding:
The Summer Company program provides young entrepreneurs (15-29 years old) with up to $3,000 in Canadian government grant funding to help start their summer business. As the purpose of the program is to support summer start-ups, eligible candidates must be returning to school at the end of the summer. This is a great funding opportunity to help young entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground and learn valuable business skills.
Participants in the program will benefit from grant funding support as well as advice and mentorship from local business leaders to help their business succeed.
Summer Company Participant Eligibility:
To be eligible for the program, young entrepreneurs must:
- Go to high school, college, or university
- Live in Ontario
- Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
- Be between 15-29 years old (if under 18 a parent needs to sign the application)
- Not already running a business
- Not be working at another job or going to school form more than 12 hours a week during the program
- Be returning to school after the program ends
Additionally, you cannot receive this Ontario government grant more than once, so if you have participated in the Summer Company program in the past, you cannot apply again.
Summer Company Projects:
As the program aims to support young entrepreneurs launch their business, the program supports a range of business types. You can start almost any type of business, as long as it:
- Is a sole proprietorship or corporation where the applicant is the majority shareholder
- Is an independent business venture (not a part of an existing or family business)
- Qualifies as ‘self-employed’ for income tax purposes
- Operates in Ontario on a full-time basis
- Follows government rules for operating a business
If you are interested in applying you can go to the Summer Company website here to learn more and start the process. The deadline for submitting applications is May 8, 2015.
Canadian Government Grants and Loans Resources
At Mentor Works we provide small businesses across Canada with a range of resources and support to help their business grow. If you are interested in learning more about Canadian government grants and other government funding programs you can sign up for one of our free Canadian government funding webinars or register for our weekly small business funding e-newsletter to get regular updates.