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