Make the Black Entrepreneurship Program permanent • YouBetcha

Current Status

Status: Not Started

No concrete actions by the Carney government have advanced this promise since the Prime Minister took office.

Background

The Black Entrepreneurship Program emerged as a response to longstanding systemic barriers facing Black business owners in Canada, including limited access to capital, mentorship, and networking opportunities. During the 2025 federal election campaign, Mark Carney positioned this promise as part of a broader economic strategy to foster inclusive growth, arguing that empowering entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities would strengthen national resilience amid global uncertainties. Fulfilling the promise would require legislative or budgetary measures to enshrine the program indefinitely and allocate sustained funding beyond temporary extensions, ensuring Black-owned businesses receive consistent support for expansion and innovation. Under the previous Trudeau administration, the program was initially launched and later extended with time-limited investments, such as $189 million over five years announced in the 2024 Fall Economic Statement, but these efforts focused on addressing immediate gaps rather than establishing permanence. Prior governments, including Trudeau's, also invested in related components like the Ecosystem Fund, which distributed $100 million to 43 Black-led organizations by late 2025, though these were not framed as permanent solutions. Carney's commitment aimed to build on this foundation by making the program a fixture of federal economic policy, reflecting calls from Black business leaders for enduring support to combat anti-Black racism in entrepreneurship.

Evidence

No qualifying actions by the Carney government have been taken toward this promise. The available records, including government program descriptions and funding announcements, document extensions and investments made under the previous administration, such as the $189 million five-year extension outlined in the 2024 Fall Economic Statement [1]. Updates to program components, like the Ecosystem Fund's investments in 43 organizations, appear in documents modified as of October 29, 2025 [2], predating Carney's tenure. A funding intake period for the Ecosystem Fund closed on January 9, 2026 [8], but this process was initiated and managed under structures established before Carney assumed office, with no new directives or allocations attributed to his government. Other sources detail related initiatives, such as the Black Justice Strategy's 10-year plan announced earlier [3][4], but these do not pertain directly to the entrepreneurship program's permanence or ongoing funding under Carney.

Assessment

More than a year into Mark Carney's term as Prime Minister, his campaign promise to make the Black Entrepreneurship Program permanent and secure ongoing funding remains untouched by any substantive government action. The absence of new legislation, budgetary commitments, or policy shifts since Carney was sworn in leaves the program reliant on pre-existing extensions from the Trudeau era, which fall short of the permanence pledged during the 2025 election. This stasis raises questions about the administration's priorities in supporting Black-owned businesses, particularly as economic pressures continue to disproportionately affect marginalized entrepreneurs.

Without concrete steps like tabling bills to institutionalize the program or announcing dedicated, indefinite funding streams, the promise risks fading into the background of unfulfilled commitments. Black business advocates have long argued that temporary measures fail to address deep-rooted inequities, and the Carney government's inaction so far underscores a gap between electoral rhetoric and policy delivery. As Canada navigates post-pandemic recovery, the lack of progress here signals missed opportunities to build the inclusive growth Carney championed on the campaign trail.

While related federal efforts in areas like anti-racism strategies persist, they do not substitute for the specific actions required to honor this promise. Until the Carney administration moves beyond inheritance of prior programs and initiates its own tangible reforms, Black entrepreneurs will continue waiting for the permanent support that was promised to make Canada's economy stronger and more resilient for all.

Current Status

Background

Background

Evidence

Assessment

Sources