TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sep 18, 2014) -
Editors Note: There is a video and three photos associated with this press release.
Today, Futurpreneur Canada (formerly the Canadian Youth Business Foundation) launched an action plan outlining strategies and suggesting specific roles to expand and support youth entrepreneurship across the country. Developed with broad consultation through the organization's Action Entrepreneurship: Growing Young Enterprise initiative, the plan provides a roadmap to help more Canadian entrepreneurs flourish.
"In Canada, there is an urgent need to invest in youth entrepreneurship," said Julia Deans, CEO of Futurpreneur Canada. "Not only is youth unemployment more than double that of older age groups, but half of the entrepreneurs who head the small and medium enterprises - which make up 98 per cent of all businesses in Canada - will retire in the next decade. Now is the time to act."
Unlocking the Power of Youth Entrepreneurship: An Action Plan for Canada presents new insights on Canadian entrepreneurship in two ways:
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Firstly, it incorporates the results of in-depth consultations by Futurpreneur Canada with more than 1,000 of Canada's best and brightest young entrepreneurs, business and non-profit leaders, policy makers, educators and others through interviews, pan-Canada roundtables, a national survey supported by the Foundation for an Entrepreneurial Canada, and a national summit; and
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Secondly, it recommends specific actions that each of these groups can take now to better support existing and future entrepreneurs.
Futurpreneur Canada has consolidated the recommendations from its year-long consultations into three distinct areas, each of which will increase the entrepreneurial success of youth in Canada:
- Building confidence and competence;
- Enhancing education and experience; and,
- Supporting launch and growth.
The action plan contains a wide range of recommended next steps which, to boost the chances of action, are clearly assigned to the stakeholders best placed to move them forward. Some examples include:
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Federal government to encourage sharing provincial best practices across Canada to promote financial literacy and the development of entrepreneurial skills;
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Academic institutions to promote entrepreneurship and opportunities to work in start-ups and early-growth companies through co-op programs, internships and at campus career and job centres; and,
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Industry associations, federations and chambers of commerce to encourage members to speak to post-secondary classes, volunteer for entrepreneur-in-residence roles, and engage young entrepreneurs in their activities.