September 22, 2022, Ottawa, ON – The National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA) and participating Aboriginal Financial Institutions (AFIs) are pleased to announce the establishment of a new $5 million Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund.

AFIs across the country are now delivering the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund on behalf of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED). First Nations, Inuit, and Métis women entrepreneurs from across the nation are now able to access loans up to $50,000 dollars to start or grow their business.

“Indigenous women are smart, resilient and driven, but they continue to face systemic barriers when starting or growing their businesses,” said the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development. “That is why we ensured the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund provides targeted support for Indigenous women so they can reach their full potential, create local jobs, and drive economic growth in their communities.”

In 2020, NACCA set a goal to increase the number of Indigenous women entrepreneurs accessing financing through the AFIs by 50 percent by 2025. Currently, about 30 percent of the businesses supported by the network are owned or co-owned by women. The new Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund will help NACCA and the network reach its goal of serving more Indigenous women entrepreneurs.

“Indigenous women often have difficulty accessing financing due to barriers like requirements for equity, full-time participation in their business, and more. The Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund addresses these barriers by providing Indigenous women with access to micro-financing to help them achieve the success they deserve,” says NACCA Chief Executive Officer, Shannin Metatawabin.

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Haley Lews is TVO‘s Indigenous Hub reporter.  She recently had a conversation with NACCA CEO Shannin Metatawabin, which formed the basis for the following article:

Indigenous-led businesses help combat economic marginalization — but they face many barriers. TVO.org spoke with three organizations about how to foster entrepreneurship and keep money in communities.

From 2003 to 2011, the estimated number of Indigenous entrepreneurs across the country increased from 27,195 to 38,000. According to a countrywide survey from the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, more than 43,000 Indigenous people were self-employed in 2016 — 10,320 of them were based in Ontario.

But, as the Conference Board of Canada notes, research shows that Indigenous people continue to “face significant barriers to accessing various forms of support (e.g., capital, equity, business training, business planning) for their start-ups.” One of the most commonly referenced issues, it says, is locational — would-be business owners simply don’t have access to financial services.

And even when they can access such services, loans can be difficult to obtain: Indigenous entrepreneurs are sometimes seen as “high-risk,” says Shannin Metatawabin, CEO of the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association.

“We have policies that the Indian Act put in place that say we can’t put up security on our communities,” he says. “We’re not close to the market. We don’t have any equity. Our families are not rich.”

Please read the rest of the article on TVO website at tvo.org (https://www.tvo.org/article/why-reconciliation-means-supporting-indigenous-entrepreneurs)