Can you stack Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program: Access to Capital and Ulnooweg Indigenous Business Loans (Atlantic Canada)?
Yes. Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program: Access to Capital and Ulnooweg Indigenous Business Loans (Atlantic Canada) can be combined. They fund different things, so the trick is simple: apply to each separately and never claim the same dollar twice. Together they reach up to $1.0M in potential value.
Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program: Access to Capital
A federal program from Indigenous Services Canada that gives Indigenous-owned businesses a non-repayable equity contribution toward starting, expanding, or acquiring a business. Funding is delivered through the national network of Indigenous Financial Institutions and Métis Capital Corporations, which combine the grant with their own loans and business advisory support. Individual entrepreneurs can receive up to $99,999 and Indigenous community-owned businesses up to $250,000, with no application deadline.
Ulnooweg Indigenous Business Loans (Atlantic Canada)
Ulnooweg Development Group is the Aboriginal Financial Institution serving Indigenous entrepreneurs across the four Atlantic provinces, on and off reserve. It offers tiered developmental loans: micro loans up to $5,000, women and youth loans up to $25,000, and general business loans up to $750,000 for individuals. A separate Indigenous women's stream combines loans and grants up to $20,000. Eligible applicants are status, non-status, Métis, or Inuit and operate within Atlantic Canada.
How to stack them
- 01Confirm you meet each program's eligibility on its own. Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program: Access to Capital and Ulnooweg Indigenous Business Loans (Atlantic Canada) are assessed separately.
- 02Apply to each program through its own application. There is no combined form.
- 03Allocate distinct costs to each program. You cannot claim the same dollar of expense under both, but you can fund different parts of the same project.
- 04Track both deadlines and keep the paperwork separated, so each claim stands on its own.
Stacking rules vary by program and change over time. Confirm the current rules with each program, or take the quiz and we will flag the combinations you qualify for.