Self-Employment Programs

Click on the geographic areas above to find a member in your local area and what programs they offer.

BCIT BEST Program

BCIT is Canada's premier polytechnic and career training institute, and has successfully delivered self-employment programs since 1986. Annual surveys indicate over 95% of our participants are still operating their businesses after the first year, and several BEST graduates have won Entrepreneur of the Year awards.

Designed to help qualified candidates meet the challenges of starting a new venture, the BEST Program will provide you with the tools and resources to launch and operate a business through relevant training by award-winning BCIT instructors.

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Educacentre College - Être en Affaire Self-employment Program

Active since 1976, Educacentre College is the only French language college in British Columbia. It has gained distinction as a leader in many of the programs it offers.

Its Être en Affaires Self-employment Program offers a first-class training for entrepreneurs in British Columbia. The program is characterized by its small classes, its personalized approach with participants and a fully francophone curriculum.
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Langara College (EASE) SE Program

Langara College (EASE) SE Program offers a dynamic, interactive nine week program of business development targeted to business startup.

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North Shore

NS-SE Program (EST-NVCE), a division of the North Vancouver School District 44, has been involved in Self-Employment since 1995 and has assisted over in the launch of over 400 new businesses.

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SEEDS Business Development Centre

The Self Employment and Entrepreneur Development Society (SEEDS) was established to offer the residents of Surrey, North Delta and White Rock a Self Employment program. It held its first class in November of 1997. Since then more than 1000 clients have been assisted to start their own businesses. It should be noted that SEEDS is also providing the self-employment program for persons (such as immigrants) who have English or Canadian business culture barriers. Please visit our website.

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S.U.C.C.E.S.S.

The S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Self-Employment Program is a professional business development program designed to give you the knowledge and skills needed to start and operate a successful business.

We provide workshops in business, sales and marketing, financial planning, manual and computerized bookkeeping, word processing, web design, the internet, and much more.

Additional benefits of the S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Program are local and international networking opportunities in a culturally diverse environment.

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Toward Excellence Inc., Self-Employment Programs Centre

The SE Equity Program and Design Your Future Program have been successfully delivered since 1996 at our location in the heart of downtown Vancouver. The Design Your Future Program is a 3 week program, and the SE or Self-Employment Equity Program is a 48 week full-time program. Both programs are primarily targeted for EI recipients and EI exhaustees.

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Westcoast Community Enterprise

Westcoast Community Enterprise, a division of the Centre for Community Enterprise, has been delivering Self-employment training in Vancouver since 1994. Westcoast is strategically located in the downtown core near Granville and Hastings and offers clients an interactive and entertaining approach to the academic and real world business experience of starting and operating a successful business. The program uses philosophies, which have been successfully implemented by its core instructors over the past two decades, and utilizes outside business experts in numerous fields to enhance the client's experience and increase knowledge.

Since starting the Self Employment Program with Service Canada in Vancouver, we have helped more than 300 people become self employed, contributing more that $6 million in annual sales to the economy.

Business Info rmation Sessions: Every Wednesday 2:00 pm - 4 pm
Next Intake: May 8, 2007
Cut off Date for May Intake: March 30, 2007

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Y.M.C.A. New Ventures Network

The YMCA has been helping people start successful businesses in the Lower Mainland since 1986. Over 2,000 people have been through our programs. Our downtown Vancouver program provides a 48 week self-employment program, open to anyone 19 years and over who meet Service Canada eligibility requirements.

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