Ontario Government’s Summer Company Program Provides Opportunities For Youth

Ontario - Ontario students, who hope to find a summer job they love, will have a chance to be their own boss this summer thanks to the Summer Company program.
Summer Company is a unique program which assists young entrepreneurs with starting and running their own eight to 12-week business over the summer. The program provides practical hands-on business training, mentoring and the essential business skills they need to thrive. The government expects to accept between 300-400 students into the program in 2009.
Key elements of the Summer Company program are:

Students between the ages of 15 and 29 are qualified to apply

Students can receive up to $1,500 at the start, and up to an additional $1,500 on successful completion of the program

Application deadline is May 4, 2009 (or earlier if the program is oversubscribed).

“Summer Company gives our young people the practical, hands-on knowledge and experience they need to view entrepreneurship as an attractive and viable career choice,” said Harinder Takhar, Minister of Small Business and Consumer Services.

“Summer Company was a great opportunity to help turn my business idea into a reality,” said Joseph Moncada, a 2006 program participant and current owner of the Sweet Tooth Candy Emporium network. “It introduced me to new marketing connections that have endured. I am proud to have been part of a leading youth entrepreneurship program such as Summer Company.”

“I don’t think there has ever been a better time for programs like Summer Company,” said Carol Ann Walker, Executive Director of Business Advisory Centre Durham in Oshawa. “We’re seeing a tremendous increase in interest from youth this year. I think they realize that Summer Company has a lot to offer besides the funding.”

Students who participated in the program from 2001-2006 generated an estimated $11.4M in revenue in 2007

Summer Company program has supported almost 2,000 students since 2001

In 2008, a record number of 368 students completed the program

Small and medium-sized businesses represent 99 per cent of all businesses in Ontario.