Canada Self Employment Program

[The Penguin]

There are many great programs in Canada that can help you to start your own business. One of them is the Self Employment Program. To be eligible, you must:

· Currently receiving Employment Insurance benefits (EI), or
· Had an EI claim which ended in the past 3 year or 5 years if was on maternity leave

At the bottom of this post is a list of all the provinces offers this program, except Yukon. For the Yukon, contact your local government.

If you can't qualify for the Self Employment Program, there may be other business programs that exist in your area. To inquire, contact business associations, your city, provincial or federal government. If you do find a new business program that is not listed below, please help expand this list.

Currently, I'm taking the Self Employment program in Nova Scotia. I will explain the enrollment process which might be similar in your area.

First, you must be registered with an employment center approved by the Nova Scotia govementment and have an employment couslser. Next they refer you to the program and attend the next orientation session. After you have one week to submit a short business proposal. It must be 4 pages or less and address all questions given during orientation. After you will be contacted within a month if they forward your application to Employment Nova Scotia. After, within a week you learn if Employment Nova Scotia accepts in the program. If accepted, you will get a living allowance for 40 weeks while trying to build your business. While in the program, you attended business classes, develop your business plan, connect with your business advisor and more. Every month you must submit a report of what activities you conducted for your business for that month. I find it a really good program.

Alberta
Self-Employment Program
Self-Employment Program - Alberta Human Services - Government of Alberta
780-644-5135 (Edmonton Area)
1-866-644-5135

British Columbia
The Self Employment Program
Business programs | Community Futures British Columbia
604-289-4222

Manitoba
Self Employment
http://www.gov.mb.ca/employment/pdf/self_employ.pdf
945-0575 (in Winnipeg)
1-866-332-5077

New Brunswick
Self-Employment Benefit
Self-Employment Benefit - Workforce Expansion

Newfoundland
Self-Employment Assistance
Advanced Education and Skills | LMDA | Self-Employment Assistance
1-800-563-6600

Northwest Territories
Self-Employment Option
Self-Employment Option | Education, Culture and Employment

Nova Scotia
Self Employment (SE) program
Self Employment | Employment Nova Scotia | Government of Nova Scotia
1-877-223-0888

Nunavut
Self-Employment Option (SEO)
Self-Employment Option (SEO) | Government of Nunavut

Ontario
Self-Employment Benefit
Ontario Self-Employment Benefit
1-800-387-5656

PEI
Self Employ PEI
SkillsPEI - Self Employ PEI
1-877-491-4766

Québec
Self-Employment
Support for Self-Employment > Citizens > Emploi-Québec
Montréal area: 514-873-4000
Elsewhere in Québec: 1-877-767-8773 (toll-free)

Saskatchewan
Self-Employment for the Unemployed
Programs | Community Futures Saskatchewan
1-877-851-9997