Community Opportunity Readiness
To take advantage of economic opportunities, a First Nation or Inuit community must be ready in a number of ways. They may need start-up funds to undertake pre-development activities. They may need a partner or business leader who understands the involved industry. Or, they may need in-house expertise and management skills.
The Community Opportunity Readiness Program is a proposal-based program that assists First Nation and Inuit communities when they are in pursuit of, and wish to participate in, an economic opportunity. The program is a consolidation of the former community economic opportunities program, the major projects investment fund, and the community-based components of the Indigenous business development program.
The Community Opportunity Readiness Program is designed to respond to the unique needs of these communities and assists in the creation of community-owned businesses that generate revenues for the benefit of the community as a whole.
The program provides a portion of the total project budget. Applicants must demonstrate that they are accessing other funding sources, including from commercial lenders, or contributing their own resources. By equipping communities to participate in an economic opportunity, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) can increase the participation of First Nation and Inuit people in Canada's economy overall and improve the prosperity of communities and their members.
On this page
Who is eligible
- First Nation and Inuit communities and their governments, including tribal councils, located in the provinces
What activities are eligible
- Support to pursue economic opportunities and attract private sector funding, such as feasibility studies, marketing, advertising and promotion, planning, negotiations, legal, land surveys, and appraisals related to assessing an economic opportunity
- Support for community-owned businesses where there is an equity gap, such as for business advisory services and training, commercial development, and market development
- Community economic infrastructure development related to business development (but not related to a specific eligible business)
How the proposal will be assessed
All proposals are assessed on their impacts in creating jobs and revenue for the community. The process is competitive and the program funding is limited, so proposals are not guaranteed funding. The program provides a portion of the total project budget; please see the guidelines for details.
Project assessments will be based on criteria such as:
- the project or activity's potential for generating net economic benefit to First Nation and Inuit communities in Canada
- the proposed project must generate community economic benefits, and these benefits should exceed ISC contributions by a minimum ratio of 5:1
- community economic benefits normally include one or more of the following:
- community employment (full-time, part-time and seasonal)
- training of community members
- contracts and purchases from community and member businesses
- community business start-ups and expansions
- community government revenues
- demonstrated management capacity and business expertise of the eligible recipient in relation to the project
- long-term viability of the proposed business opportunity
- impact of the proposed project on the environment
- relationship of the project to federal government national and regional economic strategies and priorities
Guidelines
For more information, please see the following: Community Opportunity Readiness Program (CORP): Program Guidelines