Business self-starters program hits dead end: cancellation of provincial self-employment program concerning for would-be entrepreneurs.

AuthorMyers, Ella
PositionSudbury

Sudbury's Learning Initiative is looking for new ways to support entrepreneurs in Sudbury as their self-employment program loses its function as an administrator of provincially-funded programming.

In May, the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) cancelled its 10-year-old Ontario Self-Employment Benefit program (OSEB). The money will be redirected into the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Infrastructure (MEDEI) and other programs. How precisely it will be divided and distributed is yet to be announced.

Anne Cooper is the director of programming at the Learning Initiative, which has been running its self-employment program since 1995, when she first bid on a request for proposals by the federal government. In 2005, the responsibility for such programming was transferred to the provincial government and in 2006, the Learning Initiative got approval to deliver OSEB programming through its existing self-employment program.

Since 2006, the Learning Initiative has been able to assist OSEB recipients from various backgrounds and across industries complete training and pursue successful careers.

OSEB provided people who were unemployed with 42 weeks of employment of insurance while they completed an approved self-employment program like the one offered by the Learning Initiative. Cooper said that while their course was open to anyone, the majority of participants were recipients of OSEB.

"Many of our clients, probably at least 70 per cent of our clients, would not start a business if they weren't in a program like OSEB," explained Cooper. "It permits them to save their money and train for doing their startup because it allows them to stay on their EI."

Cooper estimates that recipients brought at least $1 million to $1.5 million to the Sudbury economy each year, simply by qualifying for and completing the program. There was a 95 per cent success rate, and a 2014 survey indicated a 67 per cent five-year success rate which suggests the economic impact was even greater.

Cooper is worried about the impact this cutback will have on the Sudbury economy and community. The program graduates around 40 to 50 people each year, which means the funding that was going into the Sudbury economy to support them will no longer exist.

"It's a lot of communities affected, but it's going to be hard on smaller...

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