Business in the Streets (BITS) envisions a Canada where all young people believe in the potential of their ideas. BITS was launched in 2011 to help underserved and underrepresented young people improve their personal, professional and economic well-being through entrepreneurship. Through holistic support, BITS provides young people with the training, mentorship, and funding required to make entrepreneurship a viable option.

BITS supports young people between 18 and 34 who face personal, professional, and economic development barriers. While participants must earn under $35,000 a year (defined as low-income) to qualify for the program, the majority (68% in 2023) live under the poverty line. In 2023, 60% of participants indicated they were unemployed or precariously employed, over 80% identified as visible minorities, 33% never completed or attended post-secondary, 72% were female or non-binary identifying, 31% cited living with mental health challenges, 17% identified as members of the LGBTQ2S+ community.

BITS offers various entrepreneurship-focused programs and services which teach the language and practice of business, while allowing participants to become more participative in society, enact projects that are meaningful to them and their communities, and increase their capacity for personal and economic change. 

By providing access to mentorship, skills-building opportunities, and helping them to build effective networks, we can help underserved youth overcome the obstacles they face in the job market and create a more equitable path to economic success. And although the focus is on entrepreneurship, the skills gained through our programs are all easily transferable to a workplace setting, whether it's broader skills like leadership or public speaking or more specific skills like sales or marketing.

The Youth Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities (YCEO) & Boot Camp programs provide participants with the knowledge, tools, and connections to either validate a new business idea or grow an existing one. YCEO (level 1) introduces concepts which help young people to develop and execute a plan to validate their business idea, and our Boot Camp (level 2) helps young people with an already existing business to establish a one-year “mission plan” to obtain funding or scale their impact. YCEO and Boot Camp are built on BITS four pillars of success: i)

hands-on, real-world training, ii) peer mentorship, iii) tailored funding opportunities, and iv) ongoing support.

Once a participant has completed the program, they can apply for unique funding opportunities of up to $5,000 to help them launch or validate their business, pursue further certifications or training that will help them succeed in entrepreneurship, or scale their business.

Since 2011, BITS has impacted over 1,000+ young people, graduated 850+ from our core programs, and provided $550,000 in funding for business and professional development. Our impact is now even greater since we moved our programming virtually, allowing us to engage and connect with youth across the country.