Atlantic Canada Business Grants

Student

ChangeMaker Funding Program – Catalyst Funding

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Amount:

$5,000.00

Type of Program:

Grants

Description:

Catalyst Funding supports entrepreneurs, companies, students and fail forward applicants with their early-stage market validation & engagement activities, including: market studies or surveys, travel to access potential markets or customers, hiring of expertise to assist with development of a business/financial model, any costs relating to connecting to the market or potential customers (web presence, marketing, etc.) provided that this is specifically related to validation and development of prototype or beta product required to test the market (only in special circumstances-limited). 

Comments on Funding:

Funding is up to $5,000 for entrepreneurs, companies, NouLAB prototyping, up to $1,000 for students to test ideas and up to $5,000 for fail forward applicants.
Applicants are only eligible to be awarded total Catalyst Funding and Saint John TGF to a maximum of $5,000.
Funding awards are taxable.

When It Ends:

Ongoing

Deadline:

Rolling Deadline

Eligibility:

The applicant must:

  • be an entrepreneur, a company, student or a fail forward applicant with an idea to solve a real-world problem or issue with an innovative and disruptive technology or platform, or an innovative product or service, or an innovative approach or process, or a socially innovative, or ‘tech meets social’ idea, or something that has yet to be discovered or developed, or any combination of the above.
  • reside in New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island (subject to discretion of PDC Executive Board). In the case of corporations, the majority of shareholders must reside in the eligible province and the registered office must be in the eligible province. In the case of partnerships, the majority of partners and ownership must reside in the eligible provinces.
  • focus on the following key priority areas: Health & Wellness, Immigration & Retention, Poverty Reduction.
  • be PDC/New Brunswick Social Policy Research Network (NBSPRN)Program Participants or must be invited to apply.

ALL funding recipients are REQUIRED to participate in the Innovators' Jump Start Program.

Application Steps:

Applicants:

1

must submit the online application form,

2

who have been short-listed will be notified by email and will often be invited to a meeting to discuss and determine the terms of award,

3

will be asked to submit proof of residency for the company/entrepreneur, if successful. 

Once due diligence is completed, a Letter of Award and Terms & Conditions Contract will be issued.

Documentation Needed: 

Applicants must submit:

  • the online application form,
  • proof of residency for the company/entrepreneur, if the application is successful.

Funding recipients are required to provide interim and final progress reports.

Other Things to Note:

The ChangeMaker Funding Program is NOT about the funding. While the funding helps early-stage entrepreneurs and innovators test ideas and build sustainable business models, this program is designed to help build success through providing on-going support and opportunities.

The fail forward applicants are entrepreneurs and innovators who have experienced the failure of an idea or venture and they are ready to do an overhaul or pivot, or have an entirely new idea and are passionate about building a sustainable business. They are courageous entrepreneurs, whose ideas, dreams or ventures have failed (usually at least 4-6 months previously), who have learned from the experience, and who are committed to starting over.

Program Contact:

Catalyst $ | Changemaker

ChangeMaker Program

Policies - Catalyst Fund

FAQs for Funding Awards

Student Entrepreneurship

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Amount:

$3,000.00

Type of Program:

Loan

Description:

The Student Entrepreneurship component provides an interest-free loan of up to $3,000 to help students start a summer business that will create at least one full-time student summer job and provide the applicant with a valuable business experience.  

Comments on Funding:

Funding is up to $3,000. If the loan has been repaid in full, students may be reimbursed up to 1/3 of the loan, provided that all program regulations and requirements have been met.

When It Ends:

Ongoing

Deadline:

Rolling Deadline

Eligibility:

Applicants must:

  • be students,
  • be returning to full-time studies in the fall. Priority will be given to students who will be attending a post-secondary institution in the fall.
  • be 16 or older. Applicants under 18 will need the signature of a guarantor acceptable to the bank in order to obtain the loan.
  • have established New Brunswick residency or lived in the province during the last six months and be returning to full-time studies in New Brunswick in the fall. Long-term New Brunswick residents remain eligible even if they are studying outside the province.
  • operate the business in New Brunswick.
    An individual may have only one Student Entrepreneurship loan outstanding at any time during the program period, either as a sole proprietor or as a partner

The business:

  • must fall under generally accepted definitions of an independent business. That means the student should have a large measure of independent control over business operations. Under this criterion, certain types of product distributorships may not be eligible (i.e., where the applicant is essentially a commissioned salesperson for a manufacturer or distributor).
  • must create one or more full-time summer jobs and provide the student with business experience on a daily basis (minimum of 30 hours per week),
  • has to operate for at least 6 weeks.
  • must be able to demonstrate independence from the family-owned operation if operating on family-owned premises or businesses.

Application Steps:

The applicants should pick up application booklets at their local Department's Regional Office, Service New Brunswick Centre or Enterprise Agency. The booklet provides directions on how to prepare a business plan and advice on the steps to take to form a business.

Documentation Needed: 

The application must include a business plan that shows how the business will be able to pay back the loan by October 15.

Other Things to Note:

The Student Entrepreneurship component of the Student Employment and Experience Development Program (SEED) is a unique part of the Government of New Brunswick’s summer employment programming.

Program Contact:

Student Entrepreneurship

Report Cover

Early Stage Commercialization Fund (ESCF)

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Amount:

$100,000.00

Type of Program:

Grants

Description:

The Early Stage Commercialization Fund (ESCF) helps move New Brunswick university, college and institutional research to market. The ESCF assists the academic & institutional research communities in pursuing commercialization opportunities by providing up to $50,000 in funding and go-to-market support.

Projects can be applied for in one of two phases:

Phase 1: for technologies that have achieved proof of concept and are now in initial stages of development.

Phase 2: for projects that have clarified the opportunity for commercialization as well as target markets and potential revenue streams.  

Comments on Funding:

Funding is up to $50,000 for projects in either Phase 1 or Phase 2. A given project can receive at most one Phase 1 award and one Phase 2 award, up to a maximum of $50,000 in each phase.

When It Ends:

Ongoing

Deadline:

Next deadlines to be determined

Eligibility:

Applicants must be:

  • research personnel, including professors, research staff, and faculty members, at approved New Brunswick research institutes,
  • graduate, and college students, as well as post-docs, provided a faculty member is a co-applicant.

Eligible expenses include: 

  • intellectual property development,
  • assessment of market potential,
  • development of go-to-market strategies,
  • business plans and strategic plans,
  • development of intellectual property protection strategies,
  • proof-of-concept or prototype development,
  • technology design and optimization. 

Application Steps:

1

Applicants should apply through the NBIF Research Portal.

Documentation Needed: 

Applicants must submit:

  1. 1
    the application form,
  2. 2
    a technical report, including a financial report of expenses, at the end of the 1-year funding period.

Other Things to Note:

Innovacorp and New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF) are proud to be working together to deliver the Early Stage Commercialization Fund (ESCF) in both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick 

Program Contact:

Early Stage Commercialization Fund (ESCF)

Application Portal