SmallBizTBay

Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund Mastercard and Pier Five are thrilled to announce the   Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund.  This initiative aims to empower women-owned small businesses in Canada. Ten selected businesses will each receive $10,000 CAD in funding and a priceless experience, offering valuable opportunities for growth, mentorship, and connections with Mastercard experts. Application Details: Timeline: Applications open: October 3, 2023 Applications close: November 5, 2023, at 11:59pm EST How to Apply: The application form is available online at  Apply Here . Learn More: For further information, visit  Small Business Fund 2023 .

Thunder Bay Ventures is relaunching their Enter the Den program aimed at students in developing business ideas. Students can enter either from Grade 7 & 8 or from high school (grades 9-12). Winners can get up to $1000 in cash, and it doesn't even have to be an operating business, or there's no obligation to run the business.  Just come up with a great idea and have a good pitch! Best of luck!

 If you had been in business during the pandemic, you knew how much it 'hurt' and the Canadian Emergency Bank Account came in as an option to provide some cash flow. The idea at the time was for a $40,000 'loan' from the government, you had time to pay it off at 0%.  And if you paid off $30,000 (75%) of it by a set time then the $10k (25%) was forgiven.  As the pandemic went on, another $20,000 could be added, where half of it would be forgiveable. If you had taken the full 60, you would have had to pay 40 to get 20 (30/10 + 10/10).  If you had taken 50 the math would be pay 35 to get 15 (30/10 + 5/5) . Now, all sounded okay, but eventually the deadline was coming up and it had been set for December 31 of this year to pay off the amount needed to get the amount to be forgiven.  If not, then whatever was left was transferred to a normal loan.  If you had taken that 50k example above, if you got to December 31 and only paid back $34... then you would have the full remaini

Program available to support Indigenous women in starting their business. The Women in Business (WiB) program can help Indigenous women overcome the barriers to starting and growing their business with assistance in financings to help them start/grow, but also to help build their credit and possibly leverage other financing options available to them. To be considered applicants will need to be over 18 and provide documentation on their status. The microfinancing is for projects up to $20,000; where with only 5% equity requirement, another 45% will be considered a grant with the remainder as a loan with NADF. For more information visit:   http://www.nadf.org/women-in-business-program

Hackathons are a fun multi day event where folks can bring their tech and entrepreneurial skills together to build solutions. One such event is being put together by Lakehead University's Ingenuity in conjunction with the City of  Thunder Bay to find ways to better engage with youth in the city. Cost is $6.60(CAD) to participate where that will go towards the foodbanks at the 2 post-secondary institutions. To find out more information visit:   https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/hack-it-thunder-bay-young-adult-public-engagement-tickets-714825320777

  For businesses that are under 500 employees and over $100k/yr in sales, they can apply to CanExport to cover 50% of your costs up to $50k and is accepting applications from Sept 6 to 22, 2023.  https://www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca/funding-financement/canexport/sme-pme/index.aspx?lang=eng