UW launches new Indigenous entrepreneurship training program

The University of Waterloo has announced the launch of a new entrepreneur training program tailored to meet the needs of Indigenous youth and their communities. Hosted by St. Paul’s University College, the training program will be led by Indigenous entrepreneur Jacob Crane, administered online by the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre alongside GreenHouse, a “social impact incubator” at the College that offers “programs, opportunities and a community for students to develop problem solving skills and to form innovative ideas”.

According to a release from the University of Waterloo, the four-month program will see students given four weeks of classroom coaching from “notable Indigenous entrepreneurs from across the country”, alongside a three-month period where students will work to meet milestones within their own specified enterprise.

At the program's end, enrolled students will be receiving a co-curricular credit alongside a certificate of achievement. Those students will also be eligible to compete for up to $3,000 in funding for their respective enterprise project. Program manager Jacob Crane said the training program is “very empowering” as it allows Indigenous youth to take economic ownership of their lives.

“By investing in Indigenous entrepreneurship, we can help solve problems at the forefront of our communities,” said Crane. “When an Indigenous person starts a business, 20 people are positively impacted in the first month alone.”

Speaking to that impact, Crane said that Indigenous Entrepreneurship is particularly unique – in that he believes it focuses more on “solving problems and sharing wealth with the collective.”

“There are 631 Indigenous communities in Canada, if we had just one member from every community participate in the program, it would make a significant positive and direct impact on our communities.”

The Indigenous entrepreneurship training program will serve as a pilot for the entrepreneurial work-integrated learning component of an Indigenous Entrepreneurship minor, expected to be offered by St. Paul’s University College beginning in the Fall of 2021. According to the University of Waterloo, a total of 60 Indigenous students will be participating in that work-integrated learning experience.

“We are delighted to start offering programs which will support Indigenous students in their entrepreneurial aspirations,” said Richard Myers, principal of St. Paul’s. “As an institution, I believe we are uniquely suited to provide an innovative learning experience, which focuses on an Indigenized approach to business.”