Welcome! Calling all current and aspiring newcomer immigrant entrepreneurs in Canada’s Capital Region – we want you! Please join us at this free 2022 Welcoming Ottawa Week event custom-made for you!
Please join Karla Briones, award-winning serial immigrant entrepreneur, speaker and columnist, for a very special WOW in-person event hosted together with Invest Ottawa, Bayview Yards, RBC, Ottawa Newcomer Entrepreneurs (ONE) Hub and World Skills.
On June 20, we are excited to welcome you and all current and aspiring newcomer immigrant entrepreneurs who aim to pursue and establish any type of business in Canada’s Capital, including:
- Mainstreet businesses, from retail to restaurant, hospitality, leisure, tourism, arts and culture, food services, services, consulting, trades and more
- Franchise businesses
- Technology or technology-enabled startups
- Side hustles
We want to support every step of your entrepreneurial journey, fuel your growth and success, and help you feel at right home in our community! Please join us for this informal and engaging event, and meet friends, neighbours and entrepreneurial leaders who want to welcome you to Ottawa.
Agenda
3PM: Welcome from Karla Briones, Serial Immigrant Entrepreneur, and Sonya Shorey, Vice President, Strategy, Marketing and Communications, Invest Ottawa
3:10PM: Presentation from Karla Briones about the opportunities, resources and support available to newcomer immigrant entrepreneurs in Ottawa.
- If you aim to establish a business in Canada’s Capital Region, Karla will equip you with critical information that will help set you up for success
- She will also introduce some immigrant entrepreneurs she has collaborated with in our community
- Hear directly from Karla as our guest host in Invest Ottawa’s podcast, Invested in our New Reality
3:40PM: Presentation from Invest Ottawa on the different programs, services and support available to newcomer immigrant entrepreneurs. This includes an overview of our:
- Small business programs and services
- Education Centre which offers hundreds of free in-person, hybrid and virtual courses, training sessions and workshops every year; and
- Technology startup and scaleup programs and services including Ignition, a 10-week boot camp created for entrepreneurs who want to validate a tech startup idea and create a solid business foundation
- Programs for women entrepreneurs from every walk of life, including SheBoot, our investment-ready bootcamp for women tech and tech-enabled founders
3:55PM: Presentation from Ottawa Newcomer Entrepreneurs (ONE) HUB – World Skills on programs and services available to you.
4:10PM Presentation from RBC on services and support available to immigrant entrepreneurs
4:25PM: Open Q&A and networking with light refreshments. This is your opportunity to:
- Meet our speakers one-on-one, and gather additional information about programs and services for immigrant entrepreneurs
- Mix and mingle with fellow immigrant entrepreneurs and members of our community
- Take a tour of Bayview Yards, Ottawa’s innovation hub
5PM: Event concludes
About Welcoming Ottawa Week (WOW)
WOW is an annual series of dialogues, cultural and celebratory events, sports activities, documentary screenings, and other fun events, designed to convey the genuine welcome and hospitality of Ottawa residents to newcomers, while providing opportunities for quality interactions between newcomers and long-time residents.
About Invest Ottawa: www.investottawa.ca
Invest Ottawa is the lead economic development agency for knowledge-based industries in Canada’s Capital, facilitating economic growth and job creation in Ottawa. Guided by a vision to help realize Ottawa’s full potential as a globally recognized, innovative, inclusive, and future-ready city, Invest Ottawa delivers venture development, global expansion and talent programs and services that catalyze the growth and success of entrepreneurs and firms. These include small business training, mentorship, acceleration for technology firms, foreign business and investment attraction, local business retention and expansion in targeted sectors, commercialization, and marketing Ottawa’s diversified economy and high quality of life. Invest Ottawa is also the manager of Bayview Yards, Ottawa’s innovation hub and one-stop business acceleration shop; and founder and operator of Area X.O, our R&D complex for smart mobility, autonomy and connectivity. Since 2012, Invest Ottawa has worked with thousands of startups, scale-ups, and SMEs; helped firms to attract more than $992 million in capital; contributed to the creation of more than 11,178 jobs; and attracted more than $1 billion in domestic and Foreign Direct Investment.
