George Brown College (GBC) is giving thirteen lucky participants a chance at making their business proposals come to life.Through the “Empowered Youth Startup Hub,” youth participants, 18 to 29 years of age, can bring their proposals to a panel of judges for a chance at receiving a $3,000–$8,000 business grant toward starting their business.Designed to provide youth with the necessary skills and training they need to become successful entrepreneurs, participants will be able to take part in “workshops, seminars and site visits focused on business and entrepreneurial skills development as well as mentorship support,” according to the GBC Digital Media and Gaming Incubator website.

“Although the program is hosted at the digital media and gaming incubator, their (applicants) business does not have to be a technology focused company,” says Alice Lee, program coordinator for the incubator. “So for example it could be a business for photography, cleaning services, financial services, etc.”

The qualifications for becoming a hub participant also include being an Ontario resident as well as a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, be ineligible for other self-employment programs and not be enrolled as a full-time student.

Placing emphasis on youth from “vulnerable populations,” this government-generated term refers to Aboriginal youth, newcomer youth, and racialized youth, and also includes youth in care, youth in or at risk of conflict with the law, youth in poverty or from low income families, and youth with disabilities and special needs.

The hub also seeks to generate entrepreneurship in youth from “high needs communities,” another official term used by the provincial government to refer to Aboriginal communities and northern communities.

It also refers to small communities. These are municipalities with a population of less than twenty thousand or with a population density of less than a hundred persons per square kilometre.In the context of Toronto, this term refers to urban neighbourhoods with a high concentration of an above-mentioned vulnerable population. The reason for this particular emphasis is that the hub is being funded as part of Ontario’s “Youth Job Strategy” one of many Strategic Community Entrepreneurship Projects.

So far, the empowered youth start-up hub is only slated to run twice, once in 2014 from Sept. 15 to Dec. 12 and again  from Jan. 12 to April 10 in 2015. It will follow the cycle of the regular academic year, however, classes will be held in the evenings and on the weekends so as not to conflict with any other commitments program participants may have.

Currently it is unclear if the hub will run further sessions in the future; This is dependent on provincial funding. What is clear is that, as Lee observes, many youth are starting their own business. It will be interesting to see how these abstract business ideas translate into concrete plans in the coming months.