ENGAGE YOUR EMPLOYEES, DEVELOP YOUR SKILLS, AND LEARN SOMETHING NEW!
Find courses, programs, webinars & more…
Our local college offers Continuing Education Programs such as:
- First aid
- FOODSAFE
- Safety courses of all kinds
- Leadership courses
- Admin & Bookkeeping
The College of the Rockies also offer Business courses and a Bachelor of Business Administration.
Offering programs for all ages, placements, & abilities.
- Job Seekers
- Employers
- 55+ who are unemployed
- Those interested in entrepreneurship and self-employment
- Those looking to re-enter the workforce
The Federation of Community Social Services of BC
They are committed to strengthening and supporting BC’s community services sector through professional development, skill-building, networking, and leadership development opportunities.
A massive open Online Course provider; with more than 5,000 courses, Professional Certificates, and degrees from world-class universities and companies.
- Business
- Computer science
- Health
- Social science
- Personal development
- Humanities
- Engineering
- Languages
- And more…
Professional Development Courses available for teams or individuals. Choose from over 17,700 courses, which are updated weekly.
Canadian Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) is a federally funded program that gives *$2400 + 30 hours of one-on-one consultation with a student e-commerce advisor to businesses in Canada. This program will run until 2024.
*The $2400 is to be put towards e-commerce upgrades.
Run by Alacrity Academy, offering e-commerce training to all student e-commerce advisors via their online learning portal, meaning that the student advisors who you will connect with have all recently received training in the most relevant subjects and strategies relating to e-commerce.
TURN YOUR BUSINESS DREAMS INTO REALITY.
Access startup checklists, how-to guides, & more…
Businesses operating within the City of Cranbrook, including those based within the City but conducting business primarily outside of the City, are required to have a valid business license.
- 5 Steps to Starting Your Business in BC Visit gov.bc.ca for assistance on each of the following:
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- Develop your business idea
- Choose a business structure
- Request and reserve a business name
- Register or incorporate
- Get required licences or permits
- Starting a Business in BC | A Guide For Women BC has almost 360,000 small businesses, and women own or operate almost 36% of them – the highest rate in Canada!
- Small Business BC Resources to provide you with tips & tools for business planning, market research, marketing & sales, import/export and more
- Starting a Co-Op Cooperatives (co-ops) develop communities and create jobs by offering a range of supports like housing, food or health care. They are owned and operated by the people who use these essential products or services.
In addition to providing a no-fault insurance system, Worksafe BC partners with workers and employers to prevent injury, disease, and disability.
When work-related injuries or diseases occur, they provide compensation and support people in their recovery, rehabilitation, and safe return to work.
Hiring Employees? BC’s Labour Laws set standards for payment, compensation and working conditions in most workplaces.
The standards promote open communication, fair treatment and work-life balance for employees.
The Chambers of Commerce Group Insurance Plan
Protecting Canadian firms for over 40 years, with more than 30,000 small –midsize businesses choose the Chambers Plan to protect their employees.
- Comprehensive Group Benefits
- Health & Dental insurance
- Canada’s #1 Employee Benefits Plan for small business
KEEP UP WITH CURRENT TRENDS AND MAINTAIN A COMPETITIVE EDGE.
Market research provides critical information about your market and your business landscape. It can tell you how your company is perceived by the target customers and clients you want to reach.
- Work BC Regional Profile on the Kootenays
- 2019 Business Walk
- 2020 Business Walk
- 2022 Business Walk
- COVID-19 and Entrepreneurship in Western Canada
- Women’s Entrepreneurship in Western Canada, 2019/2020
- Youth Entrepreneurs in Western Canada, 2019/2020
- BC Statistics | Business, economy, employment, population, nature/environment, government
- Indigenous Economic Development Resources
PUBLIC FUNDS TO HELP SPRINGBOARD YOUR BUSINESS VENTURE!
Access grants, loans & other financial assistance. Some programs run annually or are updated with more frequency, check these websites often for updates!
Community Futures East Kootenay
CFEK promotes economic development and the creation of jobs and wealth in our region by providing small-business loans for start-up, expansion or the purchase of existing businesses. In addition to financial support, CFEK offers a variety of business-related services, including knowledgeable, professional business consultation and access to training for entrepreneurs and their employees.
Provides financing, mentoring, and support tools to aspiring business owners aged 18-39.
WeBC (Formerly Women’s Enterprises)
A not-for-profit that has been supporting women business owners across the province for over 25 years. Working with regional partners, they’ve provided thousands of entrepreneurs with business loans and expertise training, resources, and peer network support to help businesses grow and thrive.
Supports the ideas and efforts of the people in the Columbia Basin. They take lead from residents and communities. Whatever the situation calls for, they adapt their role: from providing resources, to bringing people together, to leading an entire initiative. The Trust is here to offer experience and support to all Basin residents.
Economic Trust of the Southern Interior (ETSI-BC)
They add value to our region through helping build the region’s economic development capacity, assisting their partners as they support local businesses, encouraging entrepreneurship and the creation of meaningful jobs, and providing support to key sectors of our region’s economy to innovate and be more sustainable.
The Recovery and Resiliency Fund is made possible through a partnership between Government of BC, Vancouver Foundation, United Way BC, and New Relationship Trust that will distribute $34 million to charitable and non-profit organizations.
This Fund will provide flexible, three-year grants of $50,000 and $72,000 per year to eligible organizations that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. $5 million of the Fund will go to New Relationship Trust to grant directly to Indigenous-led organizations with annual revenues of more than $1 million.
RDEK (Regional District of the East Kootenay)
Located in the southeast corner of BC, the RDEK is a local government dedicated to providing quality service to our residents and property owners. We work together as a partnership of municipalities and electoral (rural) areas to provide and coordinate services.
Investment Agriculture Foundation of British Columbia
IAF is an industry led, not for profit that delivers government funded programs to the agriculture and agri-food sector of British Columbia.
For 2023, BC Hydro is offering two types of grants to support non-profit organizations and registered charities that are making a difference in their communities.
The Canada Council for the Arts is Canada’s public arts funder, with a mandate to “foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.”
In addition to its regular programs, the Canada Council for the Arts makes use of strategic, targeted funds that respond to particular opportunities or issues in the arts sector.
HELPING YOU START, GROW, FINANCE, MANAGE & PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS.
Get information on federal government programs and services…
in British Columbia, The Jobs and Growth Fund provides funding to businesses and organizations to help create jobs and position local economies for long-term growth. The fund, delivered by Canada’s regional development agencies (RDAs), provides $700 million nationally over 3 years, which includes up to $70 million dedicated to businesses created after January 2020 that meet eligibility criteria.
Incentives, tax credits and other assistance to help companies involved in specific activities. They also offer industry-specific assistance.
The B.C. Employer Training Grant program (ETG) supports skills training to address provincial labour market needs. The program is delivered by the Province of British Columbia and is funded by the Government of Canada through the Workforce Development Agreement (WDA).
Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility
As a federal Canadian Crown Corporation established to manage investments assigned to it, CDEV has been mandated to implement the Government of Canada’s Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility in cooperation with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and the Department of Finance.
This program will provide emergency funding support for large Canadian enterprises facing financial challenges in light of the economic impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic. CEEFC has been formed to administer this mandate.
National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program
NRC IRAP provides advice, connections, and funding to help Canadian small and medium-sized businesses in the technology innovation sector increase their innovation capacity and take ideas to market.
INVESTED IN THE WELL-BEING OF OUR COMMUNITY & ITS FUTURE!
Find local, regional, & provincial support…
Kootenay Aboriginal Business Development Agency (KABDA)
KABDA offers expertise from marketing & retail projections to consulting & business planning and more.
They have access to many different resources and are more than happy to provide entrepreneurs with services in the comfort of their home/business location or at the KABDA office.
Basin Business Advisors Program
This program provides free, confidential business support services to eligible businesses in the Columbia Basin Trust region.
Services can include:
- General education and networking
- 1:1 Business advisory or referral consulting
- Cost-shared specialist consulting services
- Support in seeking grant or funding support from other programs
The intention of the BRA is to keep businesses apprised of current recovery programs and grants and work one on one with businesses to find programs that work for them and help to navigate applications. The BRA also gathers information from businesses on the supports they require along with what supports are currently helpful and which are not, providing feedback to the Cranbrook Chamber which gets relayed to the Provincial and Federal governments through consultation with Chambers.
Our local Business Recovery Advisor is Riley Wilcox.
She can be contacted at [email protected]
In April of 2021 the Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Columbia Valley Chamber, Kootenay Employment Service, Kimberley Chamber of Commerce, Golden Community Co-op applied for a grant with ETSI BC to create a local Business Recover Advisor Position.
The Scotiabank Women Initiative is here to support women-led and owned businesses. Their research revealed an opportunity to serve women businesses in a way that addresses the unique challenges they face.
The Scotiabank Women Initiative has since deployed more than $3 Billion in capital to business owners in Canada while engaging 6000+ entrepreneurs across the country through boot camps and mentorship sessions.
Columbia Basin Trust Business Advisory Services
Providing programs and initiatives to support economic growth, employment, business vibrancy and workforce development. They offer 2 Business Advisory Services to strengthen Basin businesses and support their growth.
Helping British Columbia’s entrepreneurs grow successful and sustainable businesses through expert business advisors, educational services, easy-to-use free resources and engaging community events.
WeBC (Formerly Women’s Enterprises)
A not-for-profit that has been supporting women business owners across the province for over 25 years. Working with regional partners, they’ve provided thousands of entrepreneurs with business loans and expertise training, resources, and peer network support to help businesses grow and thrive.
Ktunaxa Ready showcases Ktunaxa businesses to promote short and longer-term business to business relationships.
Support Your Business with Student Talent | BC Chamber
Like many organizations in BC, finding good talent may be a top-of-mind challenge. By bringing a work-integrated learning (WIL) student onboard, your organization can benefit by:
- Getting help with a specific project or issue your organization is facing
- Adding staffing to support your day-to-day operations
- Exposing your team to new ideas and creative thinking
- Building your pipeline of potential future hires
- Contributing to a stronger workforce and economy through providing training and experience to future skilled workers
KES has the latest information on funding for education and small business starts. They also conduct specialized employment programs for various groups of people.
Whether you are interested in employment, business, or our community, KES is there to help.
KAST (Kootenay Association for Science & Technology)
KAST is the largest technology-focused economic development association in the Kootenay economic region.
Learn more about their services on their website:
- Women in Tech
Entrepreneurship
Mastermind Program - Kootenay Investment
Challenge - Investment Readiness
Training - Venture Acceleration
Program
College of the Rockies – Work Integrated Learning
Co-operative education is a program where students receive the opportunity to work in an industry related to their program field. The co-op program is structured so that each term or semester of schooling is alternated or enhanced by a period of work. This provides you, as an employer, a chance to shape the development of future employees and to benefit from your co-op students’ knowledge, fresh ideas, energy, and skills.
PROGRAMS & ASSISTANCE NO MATTER WHAT YOUR INDUSTRY.
Access information & services available to your business…
RESOURCES FOR INDIGENOUS BUSINESSES, ORGANIZATIONS, & COMMUNITIES.
Find local, regional, & provincial support…
- Kootenay Aboriginal Business Development Agency (KABDA)
- Indigenous Community Support Fund
- Indigenous Community Business Fund
- First Citizens Fund Business Loan Program
- Indigenous Tourism BC
- BC’s Indigenous Small Business Resources
- Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Program
- Indigenous Economic Development Resources
- Ktunaxa Ready
TAKE TIME FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH!
We know you work hard… Remember to take care of yourself!
- HeadsUp – Mental health in the workplace
- Mental Well-Being for Business Owners
- Study on Entrepreneurs and Mental Health (pre-COVID)
- How’s Work? Life in the Workplace
- Work – Life Balance Quiz
- What’s your stress index?
- BC Mental Health Support Line: 310-6789
- Indian Residential School Survivors and Family Hotline: 1-800-721-0066