Self Employment - Program Criteria

To be eligible for the Self-Employment program you must:

• be currently on Employment Insurance (EI) or have had an EI claim in the past three years or a parental claim in the past five years
• be unemployed or underemployed
• reside within the Central Kootenay region
• want to start a “new to you” business
• have a controlling interest in the business
• be legally entitled to work in Canada
• propose a business concept that would be suitable for public funding – the business concept must be legal and not exploiting sex, politics or religion
• have completed the Self Employment Program Orientation
• plan to work full time (minimum of 35 hrs/wk) in your business

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To confirm your EI status, you can contact Service Canada at 352-3155 or log on to
My EI Information online.