Apply for Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund 2024 – Canada

The 2024–2025 Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund is sponsored by Mastercard Canada ULC in partnership with Pier Five.

Funding Information

• Ten (10) women-owned small businesses in Canada will receive $10,000 CAD each in funding. Each Fund recipient will also have the opportunity to participate in a Mastercard “Priceless Experience” in Toronto, a unique event focused on mentorship, connection and expert advice to further support each recipient in growing and scaling their business, having an estimated minimum value of $1,000 CAD based on the Fund recipients being located in Toronto (collectively, each $10,000 CAD funding and the Priceless Experience, the “Fund”). At the Sponsor’s discretion, travel and accommodation will be provided by the Sponsor for recipients who are not located in Toronto.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible for consideration, each applicant must meet the following criteria:
  • The individual applicant must (i) identify as a cis or transgender woman; (ii) be 19 years of age or older at the time of application submission; (iii) be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or hold current and valid authorization under the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; and (iv) be the owner of the business identified in the application;
  • The business must be fifty-one percent (51%) owned and controlled by one or more cis or transgendered women;
  • The business must have a Canadian or provincial business registration number in addition to a registered business name;
  • The business must have a minimum of one (1) employee and up to a maximum of 99 employees. An “employee” is defined as an individual on the business’ full-time or part-time regular payroll, with the requisite payroll deductions being applied by the business owner;
  • The business must make less than $1 million CAD in yearly gross revenue; and
  • The business must have been in operation in Canada for at least one (1) calendar year prior to October 1, 2024.
  • The business must not: be a franchised operation (as the term is generally understood in the business community or as defined by provincial law); be a not-for-profit or charitable entity; religiously or politically affiliated; or receive government funding on an ongoing basis for its operational expenses.
  • Employees, representatives or agents of Sponsor, their parent, affiliated or related companies, subsidiaries, divisions and all advertising, media buying and promotional agencies, and any businesses that these individuals own or are affiliated with, and Pier Five, are ineligible, as well as members of the immediate family of, or persons domiciled with, any of those described above. “Immediate family” means parents, siblings, children or spouse.
  • Recipients of a fund or grant from Mastercard, Pier Five, American Express, Visa, UnionPay, Discover, PayPal or Interac between the period of October 1, 2023, to October 1, 2024, are also ineligible.

Selection Criteria

• The following criteria will be considered by the Sponsor, Pier Five, and/or third parties retained by the Sponsor to assist in the administration of the Fundin selecting each of the ten (10) successful applicants to receive a Fund:
  • The applicant’s ability to clearly and effectively communicate why they should receive the Fund and how the Fund would be used.
  • The applicant’s ability to clearly and effectively communicate the business’ short- and long-term goals.
  • The potential impact of the Fund on the applicant’s ability to communicate the short- and long-term goals and growth aspirations.

For more information, visit Mastercard.