Why eligibility comes before the application

A strong application can still be wasted work

A strong application to a program that was never open to you is still wasted work. An application that fails on eligibility costs the same to write as one that does not.

Eligibility is separate from merit, and it is the one to settle first. The Discovery Package is the default first paid piece of work on any grant engagement.

What is tested before anyone reads your project

The Discovery Package tests whether a program is open to you, not whether your project is good. It asks:

• which legal test applies;
• where you are;
• what kind of entity you are;
• whether there is an application at all;
• whether it is a grant or debt;
• how much of the cost it covers;
• and whether the money will still be there.

The intake form is where the eligibility questions are asked once, at the start, instead of being discovered halfway through drafting.

Rules that rule people out

Checked September 2026

These examples come from the funders' own pages, checked September 2026. Each one is a rule about a named program, not a general rule.

Your legal structure

Sole proprietors and individual entrepreneurs cannot apply to three of the largest programs we track: Alberta's Aboriginal Business Investment Fund (ABIF), which names them as explicitly ineligible; BC's First Nations Equity Financing Program; and the Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program. That is a rule about those three, not a general rule about incorporation.

The other direction exists too. ISC's Access to Capital funds individual Indigenous entrepreneurs (up to $99,999), and the Small-Scale Initiative stream of ISED's Indigenous Intellectual Property Program includes Indigenous-controlled unincorporated organisations. That program's FY2026-27 intake closed on 26 August 2026.

The legal test

Being a First Nation and being a section 35 rights holder are not the same test. Two of the largest programs we track, the Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program and NRCan's Indigenous Forestry Initiative, turn on the section 35 test. We do not assess anyone's rights.

Ownership

51 per cent is not a general Indigenous ownership standard. Ownership thresholds are set program by program; ABIF's 51 per cent owned and controlled is one program's rule.

Grant or debt

Three routes often called "funding" are debt or debt-backed, not grants: the BDC Indigenous Entrepreneur Loan, the Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program and BC's First Nations Equity Financing Program.

Whether there is an application at all

Some programs have no ordinary application door. Indigenous Services Canada states that eligible recipients cannot apply directly to the Strategic Partnerships Initiative. The Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program takes a full application only by invitation, after an expression of interest.

Matching money

Matching money can be a condition. ISC's Community Opportunity Readiness Program requires the applicant to put in at least 10 per cent cash and show other funding sources.

None of these tests asks whether the project is good. Each asks whether the program is open to you.

An eligibility finding is a finished answer

An eligibility finding is complete when it is written. It does not depend on a funder, a committee or a decision that may never come.

Much of the work is ruling programs out. If nothing is worth applying for, the assessment says so. That is a real outcome, and you have spent $500 + GST rather than thousands finding out.

Where the writing cost would be large relative to a small award, that argues for a short eligibility check and a tight scope first. For example, NRCan's Indigenous Forestry Initiative grant stream caps at $45,000 per project.

How the check is done

Every program rule in an assessment is read from the funder's own page and dated with when it was last checked.

We have no influence over any funding decision. We read the funder's own page, carefully, and report what it says.

A wrong deadline is worse than a missing one, so a date that no real source stated is left blank rather than guessed.

If application work is worth doing, it is scoped and quoted in writing before anything starts.

The full set of tests is in the guide to whether you qualify.

Sources

Each program fact above was read on the funder's own page. A page checked in September 2026 may have moved, closed or changed its rules since, so check it before you act on anything here.

1. Government of Alberta - Aboriginal Business Investment Fund, checked September 2026
2. Province of British Columbia - First Nations Equity Financing Program, checked September 2026
3. Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Corporation - Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program, checked September 2026
4. Indigenous Services Canada - Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program: Access to Capital, checked September 2026
5. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada - Indigenous Intellectual Property Program grant: program guide, checked September 2026
6. Natural Resources Canada - Current funding opportunities (Indigenous Forestry Initiative), checked September 2026
7. BDC - Indigenous Entrepreneur Loan, checked September 2026
8. Indigenous Services Canada - Strategic Partnerships Initiative, checked September 2026
9. Indigenous Services Canada - Community Opportunity Readiness Program, checked September 2026