Vital Initiatives
Youth Micro-Loan Initiative

At the Toronto Community Foundation, we know that strong and vibrant cities provide a wide variety of opportunities for secure, well-paid work. However, the combination of a challenging economic climate and lack of access to viable job opportunities has resulted in an increased youth unemployment rate. Our 2009 Toronto’s Vital Signs® Report reflected that more than 20% of Toronto youth were unemployed as of June – an increase of 5% in just one year.

Supporting youth entrepreneurship is one way the Toronto Community Foundation is working to balance the scale.

Nurturing Entrepreneurship
The Youth Micro-Loan Initiative is an intensive social enterprise/business training program that will enable marginalized youth to foster a business idea into a realistic business plan to guide their business operation. Participating youth will have access to a defined set of resources and tools, mentors, business development professional and community-based partners. The training material will be developed to ensure relevancy, incorporation of various styles of learning and an appreciation for the uniqueness of youth and their approach to entrepreneurship.

Training topics include: Financial Management 101, How to Make a Profit, Marketing, and Keep Track of Your Money.

At the end of the training, youth, on completion of a business pitch where they will present their business plans to a panel, will have the opportunity to access up to $5,000 seed funding as a small business start-up.

Partnering for Prosperity
We are proud to partner with the following organizations to deliver the program to youth from Toronto's priority neighbourhoods with a specific focus on the city's west end:

The Initiative will be working with other community-based partners, including:
Thanks to the support of the following Toronto Community Foundation fundholders, a grant will be used to fund coordination of the program.
  • Griggs Family Foundation at the Toronto Community Foundation
  • John & Christine Currie Foundation at the Toronto Community Foundation

Interested in Participating?
Youth interested in participating in the Youth Micro-Loan Initiative should contact UrbanArts Community Arts Council by phone at 416-241-5124 or email at .


More Information
Learn more about how you can support the Youth Micro-Loan Initiative ››