In 2017, there were nearly 19,000 businesses located in Indigenous communities (approximately 17,000 in First Nations communities and 2,000 in Inuit communities). Combined, these businesses generated just over $10 billion in total revenue and $0.4 billion in profits in the reference year of this study.
Webinar on APC 2019 Report: Highlighting Successful Atlantic Indigenous Businesses
Indigenous businesses in Atlantic Canada are making a sizeable contribution to the regional economy and are expanding rapidly, but financial obstacles remain a significant barrier to their future growth.
Research conducted by the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business shows that Indigenous small business owners across Canada are growing in numbers and experiencing wide-spread success in terms of profitability and growth and in ways that go beyond the bottom-line. Nationally, the number of Indigenous business owners and entrepreneurs is growing at five times the rate of self-employed Canadians overall.
Strengthening the relationship between Canada's philanthropic sector and the Indigenous Communities of Atlantic Canada
For the philanthropic sector and the communities to work together more constructively, there is a need to build new relationships, understanding, co-operation, and infrastructure.
Funding under this program stream helps create, grow and develop strong and inclusive regional networks that support business growth and innovation. This will foster the entrepreneurial environment necessary for more innovative regional economies and increase the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME).
“Accessing capitals can be a frustrating process for young entrepreneurs with a great idea, but little chance of securing a traditional loan. This article lists grant and loan programs for young Canadian business owners.”
The Centre for Sustainable Community Development at Simon Fraser University
Year of publication:
2004
"The purpose of the project was to investigate what other First Nations have done to support their small business operators, and to create a process to look at what could be done in your community."
