5 Grants for Black Business Owners in Ontario

Yes. There are available grants for black business owners in Ontario. This is a province in Canada that has the highest number of blacks, which is about 627,715 (4.7%), and a good number of them have personal businesses they operate. Most of the black-owned businesses in Ontario usually depend on grants to expand their businesses. Owing to that, some organizations are been set up to award grants to these business owners who need financial assistance.

Grants Opportunities Available for Black Business Owners in Ontario

1. The R.A.I.S.E. Program

The R.A.I.S.E. Program is one of the popular foundations that is known to award grants to black business owners in Ontario. This program provides grants of up to $10,000 to qualified black business owners and entrepreneurs after they have completed their program.

The R.A.I.S.E. Program coaching program is designed to empower black business owners with the requisite skills that will help them produce a good business transformation plan and strategies on how to accomplish their business goals. They will also provide individual business advice and coaching to applicants as part of the program, to support the implementation of the business plans and how to utilize the grant.

Requirements

• Applicants must meet all the necessary requirements
• The business must be registered in Ontario and/or be incorporated
• The business must have between 1 to 10 full-time equivalent employees including sole proprietorship, and up to 25 employees for businesses in the hospitality sector
• The business must not be a franchise, a wholesaler or manufacturer, or a not-for-profit or charitable organization.
• The business must be owned by an Indigenous, Black, or racialized individual (self-identification is needed for the application)
• The owner of the business must be 18 years and above
• The owner of the business must be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident (PR) currently living and operating the business in any city in Ontario.

How to Apply

You should fill out the application form on their website and upload the required documents as stated there.

2. CILAR

CILAR is yet another foundation that awards grants to black-owned businesses in Ontario. The fact that COVID-19 affected the black-led business community in Ontario means that they will need financial support. For this reason, CILAR recognizes the importance of responding to such critical needs.

The reason they are involved in these services is to establish a long-term approach to building pathways to greater business sustainability for black people and other racialized people in Ontario and other provinces. The black-owned businesses in Ontario or any province in Canada that are driving innovation in their businesses will be awarded grant money between $2,500 to $10,000.

Requirements

• Must be an organization that is black-owned- this means that the majority of your owners and/or leadership team should be black.
• Must be a registered Canadian business with a valid business registration number
• Share the impacts COVID-19 made on your business
• Provide an overview of how funds will be used to help sustain your business through the pandemic (e.g., technology support, certifications, skilling, digitizing, etc.)

How to Apply

Eligible applicants are required to submit their applications to opportunities@cilar.ca

3. Black Opportunity Fund (BOF)

The objective of the Black Opportunity Fund (BOF) is to launch a sustainable pool of capital to support economic and social empowerment for black Canadians to help disrupt the impact of systemic anti-black racism.

They achieve this by providing multi-year funding to initiatives that impact black communities and facilitating access to capital for black businesses, to drive economic empowerment. Black Opportunity Fund (BOF) is committed to pulling the barriers to opportunity that black community members are confronted with. This organization also aim to promote gender parity.

Requirements

• Must be an organization that is black-owned- this means, the majority of your owners and/or leadership team should be black.
• Must be a registered Canadian business with a valid business registration number
• Share the impacts COVID-19 made in your business
• Provide an overview of how funds will be used to help sustain your business through the pandemic (e.g., technology support, certifications, skilling, digitizing, etc.)

How to Apply

Eligible applicants are required to submit their applications to info@blackopportunityfund.org

4. Pitch Better

Another foundation that is awarding grants is Pitch Better. Unsatisfied by the lack of support for Black founders’ start-ups in the Canadian business eco-system, minimal support from incubators/accelerators and other localized innovation platforms, Pitch Better came up with a solution to address data gap issues and the lack of information affecting black-led/black-serving women’s organizations in Canada.

Since 2019 till date, Pitch Better has offered support to over 700 Canadian companies and helped almost 10 percent of businesses in their communities to access grants.

Requirements

• Must be an organization that is black-owned – this means that the majority of your owners and/or leadership team be black
• Be a registered Canadian business with a valid business registration number
• Share the impacts COVID-19 made on your business
• Provide an overview of how funds will be used to help sustain your business through the pandemic (e.g., technology support, certifications, skilling, digitizing, etc.)

How to Apply

Eligible applicants are required to submit their applications to info@pitchbetter.ca

5. FACE (The Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund)

The Federation of African Canadian Economics (FACE) is a national and bilingual black-led nonprofit organization that is focused on providing resources and information to most black communities in Ontario and across the country, with the aim of accelerating wealth creation for Canadians of African descent.

In partnership with the Government of Canada, FACE created a Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund to help black business owners with access to capital investments, working capital, or additional business resources for expansion.

Requirements

• The owner of the business must be at least 18 years old
• The owner of the business must be of black descent
• The owner of the business must be a resident of Canada.

How to Apply

You should fill out the application form on their website and upload the required documents as stated there.