Each year, the TD Ready Challenge offers ten $1 million grants to eligible organizations with innovative solutions for a changing world. Organizations submit proposals based on the problem statement for that year. For 2024, the problem statement asked these organizations to outline innovative approaches to support entrepreneurs from underserved communities in developing, launching, or growing their businesses.

“We know that when small businesses thrive, communities thrive,” explains Alicia Rose, AVP, Social Impact & Strategy at TD. “They are the backbone of our economy, generating jobs, fostering entrepreneurship, spurring innovation, and enhancing business diversity. They can empower communities and are an important aspect of our collective success.” 

For 2024, TD sought “solutions that presented novel strategies, partnerships and technologies with the potential to help cultivate a more supportive entrepreneurial space,” says Rose. Six Canadian organizations offered “clear, measurable—and more importantly—actionable solutions that directly addressed the problem statement.”

Meet the six Canadian recipients of the 2024 TD Ready Challenge:

Futurpreneur

When starting a business, a great concept is only the starting point. Futurpreneur helps young entrepreneurs ages 18 to 39 access loans, mentorship, and support for starting, buying and growing their businesses. 

The TD Ready Challenge grant will support women-owned and women-led businesses through Futurpreneur’s Women in Entrepreneurship Initiative. In addition to accessing up to $75,000 in loan financing with mentorship, participants will benefit from networking events, a peer community and workshops, to help them grow their skills in financial management, marketing, access to capital and international expansion. 

“This grant empowers us to significantly enhance our support post-launch, helping women grow and scale their small businesses,” says Mona-Lisa Prosper, Senior Director, Community Engagement. “It allows us to create meaningful support systems specifically tailored for women entrepreneurs, ensuring sustained success beyond their initial launch.”

Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement

Tamarack Institute is committed to ending poverty through community-based engagement. Joining forces with Small Economy Works, the two organizations support entrepreneurs with training to grow and develop their businesses. “Together, we’re combining deep community engagement with cutting-edge technology to create a tailored approach that meets entrepreneurs where they are,” says Danya Pastuszek, President and CEO Tamarack Institute. 

Indigenous women and rural, remote and northern entrepreneurs are among the groups that will benefit from the initiative’s personalized coaching, community-based collaboration, and group learning opportunities. “The TD Ready Challenge grant allows us to scale what works, in partnership with communities,” says Ajmal Sataar, Founder and CEO Small Economy Works.

Ampere

Ampere (formerly The Pinnguaq Association) focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) opportunities and education. It works with rural, remote and Indigenous communities nationwide. 

The Amp Up Small Business initiative supports low-income entrepreneurs in underserved communities in Northern Canada. Potential business owners receive training and resources to develop, launch and grow small businesses and a number of these participants will receive financial investment via the Amp Incubator.  

“Receiving the TD Ready Challenge grant makes this innovative program possible and allows us to add another layer of co-designed support for the rural, remote and Indigenous communities that we serve, driving both local employment and economies,” says Caitlin Patterson, Chief Operating Officer, Ampere.

Syrian Canadian Foundation (SCF)

SCF’s mission is to empower newcomers and refugees of diverse backgrounds to thrive in Canada. To that end, SCF’s Newcomer Women Entrepreneurs (N.E.W) Venture program aims to help newcomer and refugee women advance economic independence and overcome social barriers through entrepreneurship training and skills development. The program includes entrepreneurship training, coaching, mentorship and support services including language training, childcare and access to mental health resources.

“The N.E.W Venture program recognizes the many systemic barriers facing our participants, including racial, cultural and language barriers, social isolation and a lack of social capital that often make it challenging for newcomers to integrate into their local communities and also limit their access to meaningful employment,” says Marwa Khobieh, Executive Director Syrian Canadian Foundation.

Through the TD Ready Challenge, SCF has partnered with the NISA foundation to expand the program’s reach to include newcomer and refugee women who are victims of gender-based violence. The N.E.W Venture program will also expand to include participants in Quebec thereby increasing the overall number of newcomers and refugee women who can participate in the program.

Toronto Arts Foundation

Toronto Arts Foundation believes that arts make cities thrive and aims to bring the arts to communities throughout the city. “Eighty per cent of Toronto’s arts workers and arts entrepreneurs report they do not earn a living wage through their careers in the arts, and 72 per cent rely on precarious work,” says Kelly Langgard, Director & CEO Toronto Arts Foundation. She goes on to say that newcomers to Canada are especially vulnerable, and only two per cent of Canada’s arts funders have programs that explicitly support newcomers.

With the TD Ready Challenge grant, the foundation will expand its Newcomer Artist Program. Twenty-five Newcomer artists will gain access to mentorship, education, and work-integrated learning each year for three years. They’ll learn valuable entrepreneurship skills, gain paid work experience, and be introduced to industry networks. All to build economic independence, foster personal and professional fulfilment, promote social integration, and contribute to their long-term success.

“The Newcomer Artist Program, made possible by TD, allows us to create new opportunities for Newcomer Artists arriving in Toronto to make a living by making art. With this grant, we now have strong resources to give these skilled artists the attention they deserve, so they can gain skills, experience, professional independence and more, opening more avenues for artistic storytelling and expression for the benefit of everyone in Toronto and Canada,” says Langgard.

University of British Columbia (UBC) Sauder School of Business

Located in picturesque Vancouver, the Ch’nook Management Program at the UBC Sauder School of Business equips entrepreneurs and small business professionals with the skills, resources and mentorship needed to succeed in business. The program supports the long-term growth of indigenous-led enterprises, helping to shape the future of Indigenous business in Canada and offers business classes with Indigenous perspectives while creating a supportive and culturally relevant learning environment. 

Thanks to the 2024 TD Ready Challenge grant, the number of Indigenous participants who can join the program will increase tenfold to 150 participants annually, or 450 over three years. “The program aims to address systemic challenges like limited access to capital, lack of culturally relevant curriculum and isolation in remote communities by fostering an inclusive and immersive learning experience that supports economic reconciliation and self-determination in vibrant Indigenous communities,” says Dennis Thomas-Whonoak, Executive Director of Indigenous Business Initiatives & Engagements, UBC Sauder School of Business.

The 2024 TD Ready Challenge grant program demonstrates the bank’s commitment to fostering inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Through supporting these six exceptional organizations, TD aims to help create more opportunities for entrepreneurs across Canada from underserved communities by facilitating access to resources to help them succeed. As these initiatives take shape, the hope is that they will help build a stronger small business landscape.

To learn more about the TD Ready Challenge, click here.