How First People’s Economic Growth Fund is Empowering Canadian Indigenous Entrepreneurs? More than 20 years ago, Joella Hogan started
Indigenous Businesses Impacting the Local Communities
Canada. With this venture, she thought of
Indigenous businesses are actually motivated by
her Indigenous firm, Yukon Soaps Company, in combining her passion for getting in touch
with the people from her community, elders, her language, with the world. She asked
elders and children to collect rose petals and juniper berries for producing her soaps. Most
of her products are taken by tourists as Yukon souvenirs.
their revenue. However, they also love the fact that
they have a kind of environmental footprint and an impact on the local communities. Several women Indigenous entrepreneurs identify themselves as ‘creators’. They see their company as a creative
outlet and a way of meeting the requirements of their communities. A lot of these women
entrepreneurs make use of “traditional knowledge Like Hogan, there are numerous other
or cultural expressions in their business”. Also, a lot
who tried to make it big as an entrepreneur.
services, products, and processes.
new businesses at a rate of five times more
Like several other small-scale businesses in
these businesses are already worth billions.
heavily impacted by the global pandemic. They
are more than 19,000 businesses that are
management, with a dip in revenues, and an
generates more than $10 billion as yearly
covering their overall operations costs. Businesses
revenues for their owners, the Indigenous-led
supply chain were hit badly by Covid-19. The
community by providing them with essential
source of revenue and employment for a lot of
examples of successful Indigenous people
Today, Indigenous people are coming up with
of them are innovators and exporters of new
than the non-Indigenous communities. And
Canada, even the Indigenous businesses were
As per a report by Statistics Canada, there
faced huge disruptions in their supply chain
located in the Indigenous communities, which
increase in the need for working capital for
revenues together. Apart from generating
in industries like retail, tourism, and resource
businesses have a huge impact on the
shutdown of several casinos also eliminated a vital
goods and services, along with creating
First Nation communities.
several jobs. Today, at least one in three Indigenous businesses in Canada have
created employment for the common people. 40 - IndigenousSME - June-July 2022
