New Indigenous Business Navigator Service Available at Indigenous Services Canada

OTTAWA, TRADITIONAL UNCEDED ALGONQUIN TERRITORY – When applying for funding or business supports, connecting to all the programs, funding applications, departments and agencies of the Government of Canada can be challenging. This can be even harder if you are part of a small team or have not yet worked with any of them before.

To help make things easier for Indigenous businesses, organizations, and communities, a new service is now available through Indigenous Services Canada: the Indigenous Business Navigator Service.

This new service provides a single point of contact that connects Indigenous organizations and businesses to services and programs from different Government of Canada departments.

As a one-window approach, the requestor can simply email [email protected] including their information and the type of help needed, and a representative will respond and help connect the client with the appropriate service or program.

Departments involved in this new service include:

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency

Canada Economic Development for Québec Regions

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency

Employment and Social Development Canada

Environment and Climate Change Canada

Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Health Canada

Impact Assessment Agency of Canada

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

National Defence

Natural Resources Canada

Pacific Economic Development Canada

Parks Canada

Prairies Economic Development Canada

Public Services and Procurement Canada

Transport Canada

Women and Gender Equality Canada

In developing and testing this new service, the Indigenous Business Navigator was recently used by a First Nations tourism business in Quebec that reached out to find a program available to provide funding for renovations. The Navigator successfully connected them to Canada Economic Development for Quebec (CEDQ) Regions, and the business managed to secure funding for its project.

Connecting Indigenous businesses and organizations with the right services and programs that fit for them, while make various Government of Canada departments more accessible, will help strengthen their economic development options and open more windows of opportunity.