New Businesses:
Business Opportunities Linked to Major Developments

New Businesses:
Business Opportunities Linked to Major Developments

FAQs

I have a business opportunity linked to a major development, but my business is located outside the region where the sector development is based. Can I still apply for this support? How long does the application process take? What if I don't have 100 percent ownership in my business? How much funding can I receive? I want to take training to develop specific management skills. Can ABC assist me?

Support to business opportunities linked to major developments is intended to promote the development of Aboriginal businesses in selected (normally remote) areas of Canada.

This category of support is aimed at promotion of small business ventures, in limited circumstances. It is not intended for equity investments in large projects.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for ABC support to start or establish a business linked to a specified major development, you must:

• be of Aboriginal heritage (Status or Non-status Indian – located on or off-reserve – Métis or Inuit); and
• have a minimum of 15 percent cash equity to invest in the total eligible project costs. (This may increase depending on your financial capacity to bear more of the costs. At least one half of your equity must come from personal resources.)

Additional Considerations

• You may be required to take additional training in management, financing or other areas that address the needs of the business.
• ABC's role is not to contribute to the major development itself.
• You must demonstrate operational and management expertise appropriate to your ownership and control position in the proposed business.
• You must demonstrate that your business has the capacity to be profitable.
• Whether the proposed business may operate seasonally or year round, you must be involved in a full-time management capacity.

Overview of Supported Activities

Business activities in, or ancillary to, the following sector developments may be eligible for support:

• Nickel mining (Voisey's Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador);
• Hydro-electric development (Lower Churchill Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador);
• Hydro-electric expansion (northern Manitoba);
• Oil sands expansion (Athabasca region, northern Alberta);
• Diamond mining (Northwest Territories);
• Pipeline construction (northern Canada);
• Off-shore gas development (Nova Scotia);
• Hydro-electric expansion (northern Quebec);
• 2010 Winter Olympics (British Columbia);
• Oriented Strand Board (OSB) Plant (Fort St. John, British Columbia);
• Port of Prince Rupert container terminal construction (Prince Rupert, British Columbia); or
• Red River Floodway Expansion (Winnipeg, Manitoba).

Ancillary Projects – If your business activities are not directly involved in one of the sector developments outlined above, you must demonstrate to the satisfaction of ABC that your business activities would:

• derive a significant portion of revenues from one of these sector developments, or
• receive a significant portion of their inputs from one of these sector developments.

Note: ABC interprets significant as meaning greater than 60 percent.

Eligible Project Costs

For projects involving start-up or acquisition of a business, Aboriginal Business Canada (ABC) can support:

• capital costs,
• costs associated with the purchase of shares and assets,
• operating costs,
• marketing costs,
• costs associated with obtaining financial services and business services, and
• costs associated with obtaining appropriate training and/or mentoring services.

Applying to ABC for Support

Now that you have reviewed our eligibility criteria and other important information, you are ready to proceed to the next section. This section will explain the application process for ABC support.

Questions? Please review our Frequently Asked Questions or contact a development officer at an office location near you.

Before You Apply | Applying to ABC | Once a Project is Approved | Once a Project is Completed