The Canadian government has teamed up with some of the country’s largest financial institutions to launch a C$221 million ($168 million) program for Black entrepreneurs to access credit and help them bounce back from the pandemic-induced economic slump.
In a joint announcement on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade Mary Ng said Canada would spend nearly C$93 million over the next four years to administer the program.
The rest of the C$128 million would be provided by financial institutions that have partnered with the government for the Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund.
“With Canada’s first-ever Black Entrepreneurship Program, our government is taking real action to support Black entrepreneurs recovering from COVID-19, and empower them to start up, innovate, grow and succeed,” Ng said.
The government initiative follows a wave of Black Lives Matter protests in both the United States and Canada and calls that Trudeau do more to address deep systemic inequities faced by Black Canadians.
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