We track 19 verified open programs across Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Here is the northern map, territory by territory.
Northwest Territories
SEED — Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development — is the anchor: its entrepreneur-support stream pays grants up to $25,000 per year. Annual money means annual competition, so the owners who win are the ones with the application ready when the fiscal year opens. Community Futures NWT adds term loans up to $200,000 through local offices, and the Métis-Dene Development Fund serves Indigenous entrepreneurs in the territory with loans and support.
Nunavut
The Strategic Investments Program's Business Investment Fund makes contributions from $50,000 to $250,000, with a rule worth knowing before you plan: funding is limited to a 1:3 ratio of your project's arm's-length debt or equity financing, and it does not stack with other Government of Nunavut programs. Big money, real structure — the plan has to be built around the ratio from day one.
Yukon
The Venture Loan program works through your bank: the territory backs 65% of the loan principal — between $10,000 and $100,000 of backing — for a one-time fee of 1.5% of the backed amount. It exists to turn a bank's "too risky" into a yes, which for a first business in a small market is exactly the problem worth solving. Yukon's tourism businesses also have a cooperative marketing fund for visitor-facing campaigns.
The northern reality worth planning for
Territorial budgets are small and annual. Programs genuinely run out of money, and a strong application in month one beats a perfect application in month eleven. The paperwork is also heavier per dollar than in the south — which cuts both ways, because most applicants show up unprepared, and prepared ones stand out.
The national layer nobody should skip
Wherever you are in the country, three more doors are open. The Canada Small Business Financing Program backs loans up to $1,150,000 through your own bank, with a 2% registration fee and term-loan interest capped at prime plus 3%. Futurpreneur Canada Side Hustle lends up to $25,000 to owners aged 18 to 39 who keep a full-time income for the first year, and the Futurpreneur Canada Core Start-Up Program combines up to $25,000 from Futurpreneur with up to $50,000 from BDC for up to $75,000 total, with two years of mentorship. BDC Financing — Start-up lends up to $150,000 once you have 12 months of operating history, so file it under year two.
The three rules that decide whether you keep the money
- Approval comes before purchase. Start the work early and most cost-share programs will not pay you a dollar.
- Cost-share means reimbursement: you pay first and claim it back with invoices, so plan the cash.
- Grants are generally taxable income; borrowed money is not. Ask your accountant before you spend.
Most applications also want written quotes for the work before anything is approved. That is where we come in: BBN Labs prepares a quote for the work the program funds, free, formatted so it can go straight into your application.
Want the whole country on one page? See the startup funding map, province by province.