Indigenous Cannabis Business Fund — Community Planning & Engagement
Support for Indigenous business development in the cannabis sector
At a glance
Eligible Funding
- Max. $12,000
Timeline
- Open Date : April 03, 2023
- Closing date : September 30, 2023
Financing Type
Grant and Funding
Eligible Industries
- All industries
Grant Providers
- New Relationship Trust
Status
Closed
Overview
Get up to $12,000 in non-repayable contributions to develop information and planning workshops for First Nations communities and Indigenous entrepreneurs to learn about the cannabis industry, laws, and regulations.
Eligibility criteria
- First Nations businesses and Indigenous entrepreneurs and businesses must have a minimum of 51% indigenous ownership of the underlying business.
- Indigenous ownership and control must at minimum be in proportion to the amount of equity invested in business.
- Grants are not a stand-alone source of funds as applicants must be willing and able to pay and share in the costs of the project.
- On-Reserve projects must provide reasonable evidence of community engagement.
- On-Reserve projects must provide evidence of First Nation government support, expressed through a Band Council Resolution or equivalent.
- On-Reserve projects – If applicable, status of an unregulated business transition to the regulated market (unregulated businesses must cease operations prior to disbursement of ICBF Grant).
- On-Reserve Projects – where a business will seek both federal (production) and provincial (retail) licences, whether the First Nation has entered into, or plans to enter into, a section 119 government to government agreement with the Province enabling participation in both production and retail simultaneously.
- One ICBF Grant per Project, but multiple Indigenous owners can be included under one grant.
- Financing requirements. ICBF Grants for certain project types (eg. acquisitions, capital costs, infrastructure etc) must be applied for in conjunction with reasonable assurance of commercial loan financing, alternative financing or an equivalent amount of cash equity being in place to access the non-repayable grant.
- Applicant(s) generally must have financial capacity to provide between 25% to 60% of the project costs, through cash equity and or loan financing, depending on the project type and subject to the ongoing program criteria that may be amended from time to time.
Who is eligible
- Cultivation
- Processing
- Distribution
- Ancillary services
Who is not eligible
- Companies with less than 51% indigenous ownership
Eligible expenses
- Business planning costs
- Business advisory services and staff training
- Business capitalization costs (business start-up, business expansion, etc.)
Eligible projects & activities
- Establishment of new businesses within the regulated cannabis industry
- Expansion of existing regulated cannabis businesses
- Transition of existing unregulated cannabis businesses into the regulated industry
Eligible geographic areas
- On-Reserve projects
Evaluation & selection criteria
- Community engagement stream (1) funding will incorporate a basic criteria-based process for selecting approved recipients.
- The Business Planning, Design, and Capital stream (2) funding will incorporate best practice business assessment policies and procedures as carried out by one of the AFIs.
How to apply
- Step 1: Fill out the Expression of Interest (EOI) form.
- Step 2: Applicant and Project Screening - Once the EOI submission is evaluated, you will be connected to an Aboriginal Financial Institution (AFI) in B.C.
Additional information
- Successful applicants will need to be willing and able to share in the costs of the project.
- Projects must demonstrate community engagement and support from the First Nation government.
- Businesses transitioning from unregulated to regulated markets must provide evidence of compliance.
- Applicants must meet specific financial requirements and have access to additional funding sources.
- There is a maximum cumulative contribution of $250,000 per project.
Apply to this program
