Question Period Note: Economic prosperity

Our Government works with Indigenous businesses and
communities to promote long-term prosperity, job and wealth
creation, and economic reconciliation.
• We support capacity-building and empowering communities;
unlocking land and resources; and improving access to
business capital.
• Our programs and services support community economic
planning, Indigenous entrepreneurs, and Indigenous financial
institutions.
• We will continue to work with Indigenous partners, other
governments and the private sector, to increase the participation
of Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian economy.

Economic prosperity - Access to Capital
• The Aboriginal Entrepreneurship ProgramThe Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program
(AEP) (annual budget of $34 million) enables commercial lending activities by lowering
barriers for First Nations, Métis and Inuit entrepreneurs by offering:
o a maximum of $99,999 for individuals and $250,000 for communities, in equity
(non-repayable contributions) and business support services e.g., help writing a
business plan
o interest rate support to help lower risk for Aboriginal Financial Institutions (AFIs)
o capacity and training support for AFIs.
• The AEP is delivered nationwide by the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations
Association (NACCA) and the network of Aboriginal Financial Institutions (AFIs) and
Métis capital Corporations (MCCs), who provide a range of economic development and
capacity building supports with a strong track record of effective service delivery.
• In 2015, the administration of the AEP was devolved to NACCA, with whom the
government has a five-year funding arrangement (2017-2022) of approximately $29
million annually.
• The AEP has also moved to a distinctions-based delivery model, with $5 million in
funding reserved for the five MCCs to administer their own Métis-specific portion of the
AEP. The government is now working with the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami to address the
priorities of Inuit-led AFIs.
• Over the past 30 years, the AEP has seen great success, issuing approximately 50,000
loans worth $3 billion and maintaining a 95% repayment rate.
• An evaluation of the AEP is currently underway as part of the five-year program cycle.
An Indigenous Technical Advisory Group has been launched and meets regularly as part
of the evaluation to help advise the government on ways to improve the AEP.
Indigenous Growth Fund
• The Indigenous Growth Fund (IGF) is Canada’s newest and largest Indigenous social
impact fund. The $153 million investment fund provides improved access to capital for
Indigenous small and medium-sized enterprises through NACCA and its Canada-wide
network of 54 AFIs and MCCs.
• Co-developed with the help of the Government of Canada in support of selfdetermination
and economic reconciliation, the IGF is designed to attract private capital
and promote the sustainability of the AFI network by increasing the network’s lending by
approximately $75 million annually.
• The IGF’s current investors are the Government of Canada and Business Development
Bank of Canada, Export Development Canada, Farm Credit Canada, and Block Inc., a
technology company with a focus on financial services and the first private investment in
the IGF.
• Capital from the IGF will ensure that AFIs can continue to support Indigenous business
clients in their communities while unlocking pent-up loan demand for new and expanding
Indigenous businesses, allowing them to make loans available to more and larger
businesses.
• In March 2022, the IGF announced its first portfolio investment of $10 million to the Nuuchah-
nulth Economic Development Corporation, an AFI located on Vancouver Island, to
provide loans to Indigenous small and medium-sized businesses.

If pressed on economic growth
• The Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program, administered by
Indigenous partners, increases access to capital for Indigenous
entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses.
• The Indigenous Growth Fund, launched in November 2021, is an
Indigenous-led social impact fund designed to attract private
capital and promote the sustainability of the Aboriginal Financial
Institutions network.
• Over the next few years, the Government of Canada, led by ISC
and in partnership with PSPC and TBS, will continue meaningful
engagements and consultations to co-develop and transform the
Federal Government’s approach to Indigenous procurement. ISC
and TBS are also supporting PSPC in implementing across the
Government of Canada the new mandatory target to have at
least 5% of federal contracts awarded to businesses managed
and led by Indigenous peoples.