Federal government announces $18 million investment in the Canadian Youth Business Foundation

Funding to create new youth jobs and businesses

Ottawa, ON, March 21, 2013 – The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, confirmed today that the Government of Canada will continue to help young entrepreneurs, foster innovation, tackle youth unemployment and create jobs by investing $18 million over two years in the Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF).

CYBF has a track record of success in advancing economic growth by supporting and encouraging Canada’s emerging entrepreneurs as they create, build and sustain their own businesses and pursue their dreams of entrepreneurship.

As the only national organization that provides mentoring, business support, start-up financing and networking to young entrepreneurs aged 18-39, CYBF has invested in 5,600 entrepreneurs. Their businesses have created 22,100 jobs and $157 million in tax revenue.

“The Government of Canada plays a key role in supporting young entrepreneurs and CYBF is pleased to continue to work with it and other partners to build a strong and prosperous economy and a more entrepreneurial Canada,” said Julia Deans, Chief Executive Officer, CYBF. “We congratulate and thank Minister Flaherty and the federal government for this encouraging support, and look forward to expanding the impact of our partnership by helping even more young Canadian entrepreneurs succeed.”

“We know that the single biggest obstacle for Canadian entrepreneurs is the difficulty of accessing sufficient funding at the start-up phase,” said Olivier Letard, a Quebec-based international entrepreneur and member of CYBF’s Board of Directors. “The government’s investment will help address this challenge and provide more young entrepreneurs with access to funds, mentoring and business resources to start their own business. We encourage aspiring young entrepreneurs to turn to CYBF as a first step in starting and running a successful business.”

The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to growing our nation’s economy one young entrepreneur at a time. We look at character not collateral, when providing youth, age 18-39, with pre-launch coaching, business resources, start-up financing and mentoring, to help them launch and sustain a successful entrepreneurial business. CYBF has been recognized as a global leader in advancing youth entrepreneurship, is a founding member of the global G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (G20 YEA) and the Canadian Host of Global Entrepreneurship Week (November 18-24, 2013). Visit www.cybf.ca.

CYBF Media contact:
Lesley Wilmot
Director, Marketing and Communications
Email: lwilmot@cybf.ca
Phone: 866-646-2922 x2203
Cell: 647-680-8165