Established in 2017, Parkdale Centre is an incubator & accelerator that supports entrepreneurs to start and grow their business, with a focus on equity, accessibility, and inclusion for underrepresented people, namely women, Black, Indigenous, people of colour, and newcomers to Canada.
As an organization, Parkdale Centre works to support entrepreneurs and founders to reach their fullest potential. This is shown through the work they do in programming for entrepreneurs, mentorship and networking, access to resources and capital for entrepreneurs to start a business, and an inclusive ecosystem to support the success of their participants.
“Canada’s ability to stay competitive globally means we have to leverage our inherent strengths. Embracing our diversity to ensure we harness our full innovation potential will ensure we remain competitive for years to come. Thank you Parkdale Centre for helping us achieve our potential!”
Neel Dayal, Parkdale Centre Board Member.
Parkdale Centre aims to bridge the inclusivity and accessibility gap in the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem for traditionally underestimated communities and individuals. The programming and support are designed to meet their unique needs and, importantly, foster the opportunity to connect with others who are facing similar barriers and challenges to entrepreneurship, creating an inclusive ecosystem to support entrepreneurs in starting and growing sustainable businesses.
“Creating spaces for innovation and entrepreneurship that are intentional about diversity and inclusion is about disrupting an ecosystem that has traditionally catered to the needs of dominant groups” Gilary Massa, Parkdale Centre Board Member.
In 2020, and at the height of the pandemic, Parkdale Centre was still running programs online and ensuring that the entrepreneurs and community members weren’t working in isolation. As a result, Parkdale Centre startups were featured on the front page of the Toronto Star for building resilient businesses during the pandemic. Please read the article here: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/02/24/the-pandemic-hashurt-many-small-businesses-but-for-these-new-entrepreneurs-it-hasbeen-a-golden-opportunity.html
As part of Parkdale Centre’s scale-out mandate through CanadaInnovates, Parkdale Centre will ensure support for communities and entrepreneurs across Canada to have the right resources to build and thrive in the innovation economy through entrepreneurship.
