Ontario Delivering New Economic Opportunities

March 17, 2022: Brampton, Ontario. The Ontario BIA Association (OBIAA), together with the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) and the Parkdale Centre for Innovation (PCI), announced today their plan to work with Ontario’s Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism (MCM) to deliver and administer the recently launched Racialized and Indigenous Supports for Entrepreneurs (RAISE) service and grant program across Ontario.

The RAISE program is a comprehensive grant initiative to support Indigenous, Black and other racialized entrepreneurs in Ontario to start and scale their business. RAISE provides access to business development training, culturally responsive support services and access to grant funding.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, but racialized entrepreneurs often face barriers to financing, market opportunities and networks – key things that can make or break a business,” said Parm Gill, Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism. “That’s why our government is investing $5 million in the RAISE Grant to help more Indigenous, Black and other racialized business owners succeed. We are embedding racial equity into our economic recovery efforts and plans for long-term growth to build a stronger Ontario.”

By its targeted design, the RAISE program will promote racial equity, provide opportunities and resources for marginalized groups, and contribute to the revitalization of local communities.

“OBIAA is pleased to be in partnership once again with the province of Ontario and TABIA to deliver a new program designed to assist Indigenous, Black and other racialized entrepreneurs in readying their business for our main streets. The Parkdale Centre for Innovation, with their focus on equity, accessibility and inclusion for underrepresented people, and their business accelerator experience will help to ensure each business’s success in the program. We look forward to working together to deliver the RAISE program and helping small business owners achieve sustainable goals.” Said Kay Matthews, Executive Director of OBIAA.

The objectives of the RAISE program are to:

• Increase economic inclusion by supporting the Indigenous, Black and other racialized small business community with one-to-one culturally responsive services
• Transfer knowledge through relevant online training and business plan mentorship (2 – 10 hours of online and business coaching support)
• Provide funding to facilitate innovation and growth within the Indigenous, Black and other racialized small business community ($10,000 Grant)

“The RAISE grant program will contribute to new job creation within our communities and will provide the support to access resources and capital for Indigenous, Black, and racialized businesses. As part of our scale-out mandate through Canadainnovates, our program will ensure support for communities across Ontario to be sustainable and thrive in an inclusive innovation economy that will make Ontario a destination of choice for entrepreneurs.” Rusul Alrubail – Founder, Executive Director PCI

Eligible businesses must be 18 years of age or older, Canadian citizens or permanent residents currently living and operating their business in Ontario, and self-identify as Indigenous, Black or other racialized. They must be registered or incorporated and employ one to 10 full time employees including sole proprietorship, and up to 25 employees for businesses in the hospitality sector. A full list of eligibility requirements can be found on the Digital Main Street website.

“We are excited to see the RAISE program launch today at a time when it is very needed as it will provide targeted and specific support to entrepreneurs who have been disproportionately impacted by systemic racism,” said John Kiru, Executive Director of Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) and Founder of Digital Main Street. “By building on the success of Digital Main Street programming, expanding our partnership with the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association, and introducing a new partnership with the Parkdale Center for Innovation, we can help deliver a culturally relevant program that provides support and funding to Indigenous, Black and other racialized entrepreneurs across the province.”

This program can be accessed through the Digital Main Street platform and offers eligible applicants business coaching, comprehensive training and the opportunity to apply for a $10,000 grant to fund individual business transformation plans. Requirements include the completion of 2-10 hours of business coaching and completing online training webinars (7 modules, 8 hours in length). Applicants can start the grant process now through the ‘RAISE’ program link at www.digitalmainstreet.ca/raise.