Launch League

Free guide · Verified September 2026

Youth entrepreneurship support in Ontario: what's open at 12, 15 and 18

Almost all youth business funding in Ontario starts at 18. One provincial grant starts at 15. Below 15 we could find no provincial or federal funding program. There are real competitions and courses, and no minimum age to start a business.

Every program below was checked against the organization that runs it, with the requirement most likely to disqualify you stated next to the headline number. Where a source doesn't state something, we say that instead of guessing.

By , founder, U.S. Air Force veteranPublished Program details last verified How we research and correct this

By minimum age

The age wall, at a glance

Sorted by the youngest age each program will accept.

Ontario and federal youth entrepreneurship funding programs by minimum age, amount, and type
ProgramAgeWhat you getType
Launch League (ours)12+Free course, plan builder, provincial pitch competition, written feedbackFree program
Summer Company15–29Up to $3,000 — $1,500 up front, $1,500 on completing the programGrant
Starter Company Plus18+Grant of up to $5,000Grant
Futurpreneur — Core Startup18–39Equity-free loan up to $75,000, plus a mentorLoan
Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers18–39Recognition, alumni network and mentoring — not a cash prize for the main awardRecognition
RiseNot stated on Rise's own siteLoans of $500–$10,000Loan
BDC Small Business LoanNo minimum age statedUp to $350,000Loan

Age by age

What to do at each age

The funding wall is real, but there is a useful move at every age. This is the sequence that has you arriving at 18 with a plan, a record of sales and a competition behind you.

  • 12 to 14

    Learn, run a cash business under your own name, compete

    • Take Business 101 (free and self-paced) so the words customer, price, cost and margin mean something
    • Run a service you can deliver yourself under your own legal name. Usually no provincial registration and no HST, but check whether your municipality licenses the activity
    • Keep a notebook or spreadsheet of every dollar in and out from the first sale
    • Enter Launch League: open from 12, free, written feedback from judges whether or not you place
    • Ask your school about Junior Achievement programs and whether a DECA chapter exists

  • 15 to 17

    Apply for Summer Company, take the courses, formalise if it grows

    • Apply for Summer Company (up to $3,000 plus a mentor) through your local Small Business Enterprise Centre; the cycle usually opens in spring. Summer Company does not accept applicants who are already running a business, so ask your centre whether your current activity counts before you apply
    • Take Entrepreneurship: The Venture (BDI3C) or the Grade 12 venture-planning course, and look at a Specialist High Skills Major in Business
    • Join or start a DECA chapter and enter the written business events
    • If revenue is growing, register a business name with a parent or guardian ($60) and open a joint account
    • Pitch in Launch League again with a real year of numbers behind you

  • 18 and up

    The funding wall opens

    • Starter Company Plus: a grant of up to $5,000 with training, if you are not attending school full time or returning to school
    • Futurpreneur: loans of up to $75,000 with up to two years of mentorship, ages 18 to 39
    • Sign your own contracts, hold your own accounts, and incorporate if liability or tax makes it worth it
    • Enactus at college or university; Launch League's adult categories

Read the conditions

The catch on each one

Headline numbers are easy to find. These are the conditions attached to them.

Summer Company

Government of Ontario, delivered by Small Business Enterprise Centres

Grant

15–29 · Up to $3,000 — $1,500 up front, $1,500 on completing the program

You must be a student returning to school in the fall, and you cannot work or attend school more than 12 hours a week during the program. You cannot apply if you are already running a business or have received a Summer Company grant before. High school students must commit at least 280 hours over the summer (post-secondary 420). Applicants under 18 need parent or guardian consent. The 2026 general deadline was May 15 — confirm the current cycle with your local centre.

Official program page

Starter Company Plus

Government of Ontario, delivered by Small Business Enterprise Centres

Grant

18+ · Grant of up to $5,000

You must contribute at least 25% of the grant amount yourself, in cash or in kind, and you cannot be attending school full time or returning to school.

Official program page

Futurpreneur — Core Startup

Futurpreneur Canada, a national non-profit

Loan

18–39 · Equity-free loan up to $75,000, plus a mentor

It is a loan, not a grant — it is repaid with interest. You must show experience working in your industry, the business must already be at pre-startup or startup stage rather than an idea, and up to two years of mentorship is a required part of the program.

Official program page

Rise

Rise, a Canadian charity

Loan

Not stated on Rise's own site · Loans of $500–$10,000

For entrepreneurs facing mental health or addiction challenges. Rise's lending is loans of $500–$10,000 to "loan-ready" entrepreneurs; its training program also offers start-up grants to graduates. Check which one a directory is describing.

Official program page

BDC Small Business Loan

Business Development Bank of Canada, a federal Crown corporation

Loan

No minimum age stated · Up to $350,000

Frequently listed under youth entrepreneurship, but the stated criteria are at least $100,000 in annual revenue, 24 months in business, current profitability, and a personal credit score of 600+ (loans over $100,000 require at least $250,000 in revenue). In practice that rules out almost everyone starting out.

Official program page

Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers

Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program

Recognition

18–39 · Recognition, alumni network and mentoring — not a cash prize for the main award

You must already be a farm operator drawing at least two-thirds of your income from the farm. Separate memorial scholarships of $1,000 a year exist for post-secondary agriculture students.

Official program page

No registered business needed

Programs, competitions and courses

Most of these don't require a registered business. Check each one's age range.

Launch League

Launch League — this is our own program

FreeOurs

12+

A practical business course that ends every module with a real-world action, a plan builder, and a province-wide pitch competition judged by local business owners against a rubric published in full before entries open. Every entrant gets written feedback whether or not they place. No equity is taken. Entrants under 18 need parent or guardian consent, and judging is remote so nobody has to travel.

How our program works

Junior Achievement Canada

JA Canada, through Ontario regional charters

Free

School-age — JA does not state a single range

Free to students. Programs in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship, delivered in schools by trained volunteers from local businesses, plus JA Campus for self-directed learning online. Ontario is served by JA Central Ontario, JA Ottawa, JA Northern and Eastern Ontario, and JA South Western Ontario.

Official program page

Ontario DECA

Ontario DECA

Membership dues apply

High school, through a school chapter

Business and entrepreneurship case competitions running from regionals to provincials to an international conference, including written Prepared Business Events. You join through your school's DECA chapter — if your school has no chapter, a teacher can start one. Membership dues apply and individual chapters may collect more; check current dues with your chapter or Ontario DECA.

Official program page

Shad Canada

Shad Canada

Fees apply

High school students

A residential summer program on university campuses built around real-world challenges in areas like artificial intelligence, energy and food security, with a stated focus on entrepreneurship, resilience and creativity. This one costs money, unlike most of the others here, and Shad offers financial support. Check current fees and bursaries directly with Shad.

Official program page

Enactus Canada

Enactus Canada, a national charity

Free

College and university students

Student teams at Ontario colleges and universities run real community-impact and entrepreneurship projects and compete regionally and nationally. Join through your campus team; if there is none, Enactus helps students start one. Post-secondary only, so this is the step after high school.

Official program page

The Knowledge Society (TKS)

TKS, a private program founded in Toronto

Fees apply

13–17

A ten-month after-school program on emerging technology and building projects, with an explicit startup focus. It is one of the few programs that starts at 13, and it is paid; TKS states that financial aid exists. Check current fees and aid directly.

Official program page

Seven steps

How to start a business as a teenager in Ontario

Seven steps that don't need a bank loan, and usually no registration, as long as you trade under your own name.

The adult version of this list, with registration fees and licences, is our starting a business in Ontario checklist.

  1. Pick a service you can deliver yourself this month

    Lawn care, tutoring, pet sitting, tech help, baking, reselling, small websites. A service needs no inventory and no permits in most cases, and the first sale can happen this week.

  2. Talk to ten people who would pay

    Neighbours, family friends, teachers, local shop owners. Ask what they do now, what it costs them, and whether they would pay you. Write the answers down; this is the market research every program later asks for.

  3. Set a price and work out what one job costs you

    Price per hour or per job, minus supplies and travel, is your margin. If the margin is thin, raise the price or change the offer before you start, not after.

  4. Agree the rules with a parent or guardian

    Who signs anything, where money is kept, what hours are allowed, how you stay safe visiting customers, and what happens to profits. Programs that take minors will ask for their consent anyway.

  5. Trade under your own name at first

    Trading as just "Jordan Lee" needs no business-name registration, and no Business Number or HST while taxable sales stay at or under $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. Add a word like "Lawn Care" to the name and you must register it ($60). Register a business name later if the business earns it.

  6. Keep records from the first dollar

    A notebook or spreadsheet with date, customer, amount and expenses. It is how you learn whether you are making money, and it is the proof grant panels, banks and judges usually ask for.

  7. Enter a competition, and apply for Summer Company at 15

    Launch League is open from 12 and gives written feedback to every complete entrant. At 15, Summer Company adds up to $3,000 and a mentor, but it does not accept applicants who are already running a business, so ask your Small Business Enterprise Centre whether your current activity counts before you apply. Both want the notebook from the previous step.

Services first

Business ideas for teens, with what they cost to start

Services first: no inventory, no permits in most cases, and a first sale this week. The cost column is a realistic startup budget, not a minimum.

Teen business ideas with startup cost and notes
IdeaTo startWorth knowing
Lawn care, snow clearing, leaf removal$0–$300Use family equipment first; seasonal, so plan for the gaps
Tutoring or homework help$0Younger students in subjects you have already passed; ask teachers for referrals
Pet sitting and dog walking$0Insurance matters once you have several clients; start with people you know
BabysittingAbout $60A Red Cross or St. John Ambulance babysitting course is the credential parents ask about
Tech help for seniors$0Phones, printers, video calls; repeat customers and referrals
Baking and low-risk foods$50–$200Ontario allows low-risk home-prepared foods; tell your public health unit and label ingredients
Reselling and thrift flipping$50–$200Track cost per item; profit is the gap, not the sale price
Car washing and detailing$100–$300Supplies plus water access; recurring monthly customers are the goal
Photography, video, editingOwn gearLocal sports teams, small businesses, family events
Websites and social media for local shops$0–$50Fixed-price packages; ask for a testimonial after each one
Print-on-demand or handmade goods$0–$100Marketplace fees eat margin; price after fees, not before
Seasonal services$0–$150Holiday lights, garden prep, moving help; book next season before this one ends. Skip anything on ladders or roofs, or heavy lifting, without an adult

Forty more, by industry, in our small business ideas guide.

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Under 18

Money, tax and paperwork under 18

Six rules that answer most of the questions parents ask.

There is no minimum age to start a business
The limit is on contracts: agreements signed by someone under 18 are generally not enforceable against them, so a parent or guardian usually signs leases, supplier accounts and anything with ongoing payments.
Registration is only needed when you use a business name
Trading under your own legal name needs nothing. A business name costs $60 for five years on the Ontario Business Registry, and a parent typically completes the filing with you.
HST does not apply until you pass the $30,000 small-supplier threshold
You are a small supplier, and don't have to register for or charge HST, as long as your taxable sales stay at or under $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. If you go over $30,000 in a single quarter, you must register right away. (Taxi and ride-share drivers must register regardless.) As a small supplier you also cannot claim HST back on purchases.
Income is taxable, but usually little or no tax is owed
Business income goes on a personal return using form T2125. Most teen businesses earn little enough that little or no income tax is owed (the 2026 federal basic personal amount is $16,452; Ontario's is lower, but low-income reductions usually cover the gap). CPP contributions start at 18 on business income above $3,500.
Bank rules under 18 vary by bank
TD, for example, lets teens 16 and older open an account on their own, with a parent attending for younger teens; RBC's student account starts at 13. A youth account in your own name works for a cash business under your own name. For a business account, ask the bank what it requires of someone under 18; many will want a parent or guardian involved.
Programs that take minors ask for consent
Summer Company requires parent or guardian consent under 18, and so does Launch League. It is a signature, not an application.

The legal side

What the law actually says about being under 18

General guidance

This is general guidance, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Program rules and deadlines change — every program above links to the organization that runs it, and that page is the one that counts.

There is no minimum age to start a business in Ontario. The constraint is contracts: you generally need to be 18 to sign a contract or other legal document, so someone over 18 may need to sign on your behalf. The federal government's own youth entrepreneurship guide says the same thing, and recommends talking it through with a parent or guardian first. Contracts signed by a minor are generally voidable by the minor, which is why many businesses won't sign one without an adult.

HST usually doesn't apply yet. You are a small supplier, and don't have to register for or charge HST, as long as your taxable sales stay at or under $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. If you go over $30,000 in a single quarter, you must register right away. (Taxi and ride-share drivers must register regardless.) You can register voluntarily and claim input tax credits. Confirm your own situation with the Canada Revenue Agency.

Programs that accept minors ask for guardian consent. Summer Company requires it under 18, and so do we. That's normal and it isn't a barrier — it's a signature, not an application.

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a 14-year-old start a business in Ontario?
Yes. There is no minimum age to start a business in Ontario. The limit is on contracts: you generally need to be 18 to sign a contract or other legal document, so someone over 18 may need to sign on your behalf. What a 14-year-old generally cannot do is access the provincial and federal funding programs: the youngest, Summer Company, starts at 15, and most start at 18.
What business grants can a student get in Ontario?
Realistically, one: Summer Company, worth up to $3,000, open at 15 to students returning to school in the fall. Starter Company Plus offers up to $5,000 but requires you to be 18 or older and not returning to school, which excludes most students. Nearly everything else described as youth funding is a loan.
Is Futurpreneur a grant?
No. Futurpreneur provides an equity-free loan of up to $75,000, repaid with interest, alongside up to two years of required mentorship. Equity-free means they take no ownership in your business — it does not mean the money is free.
Why do so many youth funding lists include programs I can't actually get?
Because directories tend to list programs by their headline rather than their eligibility. BDC appears on youth entrepreneurship lists, but its small business loan asks for $100,000 in annual revenue, 24 months of trading and current profitability. Outstanding Young Farmers requires you to already draw two-thirds of your income from a farm. Both are real programs; neither is reachable by someone starting out.
What can you actually do at 12, 13 or 14 in Ontario?
Compete and learn, rather than apply for money. Junior Achievement runs entrepreneurship programs through schools, Ontario DECA runs business case competitions through school chapters, and our own competition is open from 12 and free to enter. None of these require you to have a registered business.
Does a teenager pay tax on business income in Ontario?
Yes, in principle, the same as an adult: business income is reported on a personal tax return using form T2125. In practice most teen businesses earn little enough that little or no income tax is owed (the 2026 federal basic personal amount is $16,452; Ontario's is lower, but low-income reductions usually cover the gap). Filing anyway is worth it: it creates a record for later, and once you turn 18 Canada Pension Plan contributions begin on business income above $3,500. Keep every receipt from the first dollar.
Can a 16-year-old open a business bank account in Ontario?
Rules vary by bank. TD, for example, lets teens 16 and older open an account on their own, with a parent attending for younger teens; RBC's student account starts at 13. A youth account in your own name works for a cash business under your own name. For a business account, ask the bank what it requires of someone under 18. Many will want a parent or guardian involved; bring the registration and your ID.
Can a minor register a business name in Ontario?
We could not find a minimum age in Ontario's Business Names Act for registering a sole proprietorship, and the Ontario Business Registry filing costs $60. In practice a parent or guardian usually completes the online filing with you and signs anything that amounts to a contract, since contracts signed by minors are generally not enforceable against them. You do not need to register at all while trading under your own legal name.
What business courses can I take in high school in Ontario?
The Ontario curriculum includes Introduction to Business (BBI1O or BBI2O in Grades 9 and 10), Entrepreneurship: The Venture (BDI3C, Grade 11), Marketing: Goods, Services, Events (BMI3C, Grade 11), Financial Accounting Fundamentals (BAF3M, Grade 11) and Entrepreneurship: Venture Planning in an Electronic Age (BDV4C, Grade 12). Many boards also offer a Specialist High Skills Major in Business, which bundles courses, certifications and a co-op placement. Ask your guidance office which run at your school.
Do you need to register a business or charge HST to enter a competition?
Not for ours, no. For the tax question generally, you are a small supplier, and don't have to register for or charge HST, as long as your taxable sales stay at or under $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. If you go over $30,000 in a single quarter, you must register right away. (Taxi and ride-share drivers must register regardless.) You can also register voluntarily. Confirm your own situation with the Canada Revenue Agency.

Checked against the source

Sources

Checked 5 September 2026. Program rules change; the official page always wins over this one. How we research and correct guides is described in our editorial standards.

Your next step

Under 18 and every program says not yet? We say yes.

Launch League is open from age 12, costs nothing, and takes no equity. Learn how business actually works, build a real plan, and pitch to working business people who will write back. Parents or guardians give consent for entrants under 18.

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