Ottawa youth-led business showcase brings young entrepreneurs together

Young entrepreneurs had a chance to promote their businesses at a showcase on Friday. CTV’s Camille Wilson reports.

A young entrepreneurs’ business showcase took Friday at Ottawa City Hall for the annual Ottawa National Youth Week.

The event aims to promote small, student-led business owners and innovators.

“Untapped: Unlocking Youth Potential” was made to unite classrooms, educators, and industry leaders in an engaging, hands-on marketplace where students present their social enterprise and active citizenship projects.

Untapped has grown into Ottawa’s premier youth entrepreneurship and innovation event – being more than just an event, but a movement.

The young businesses conference aims to show students that it’s never too early to start their entrepreneurial journey.

The event included entrepreneurs sharing insights on resilience, opportunity and the future of innovation. It also provided attendees with the resources they need to succeed, and direct conversation between some of Ottawa’s most successful entrepreneurs and student changemakers.

More than 400 young people - first time founders, business owners, entrepreneurs, services and goods attended the event.

“I don’t think people understand how much potential - and that’s why we call the event untapped, that young people have,” said Jesse Card, executive director of Youth Ottawa. “They’re ahead of us, adults I would say - with the advent of technology, the internet, there’s so much that they are on top of and they’re learning.

Organizers say they want students to discover entrepreneurship, the freedom of doing something that they love and being completely in control of it.

“It’s really good that the younger generation is having opportunities to do stuff like that,” said Jaylen Pye, a co-op student at Youth Ottawa.

Mila MacCharles and some classmates started an artisan soap business.

“We use olive oil even though it’s more expensive because it’s better for the environment. (We put) a lot of thought and effort into our products. So, that it’s good quality,” said MacCharles. “It’s important to have your own business because it really connects you to the community.”

Sadie Gilbert started a natural hair growth oil business after having her hair business, Hair by Sadie. She says young people should have a business because it teaches them how to build independence.

“I wanted to show people that natural hair oil is the way to go. Instead of going to the store and buying oil with a bunch of different chemicals. Invest in natural stuff for your hair to avoid chemicals and chemical burns that can really damage your hair,” said Gilbert. “For black students, we feel like it’s important to show our culture in a way and share it with other people.”

Not only are these young people thriving, but they are changemakers.

Jacob Lalonde’s idea came about after he experienced a teammate tragically get killed by gun violence.

“’289 to Zero’ - 289 gun deaths in Canada in 2023. And to zero represents our commitment to try and reduce that number all the way to zero,” said Lalonde. “When I saw the impact it had on the community, I knew that I had to take action.”

“We really wanted to raise awareness about gun violence in our community and show that it’s an issue going on in Canada and we can’t just sweep it under the rug. We need to fix this issue and we’re trying our best to fix it by all the proceeds that we’re raising. We’re donating to the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa to try and help underprivileged youth in our community,” said Lalonde.

“Our students wanted to highlight the mental health crisis that’s going on within our city and find a way to promote positivity in their own little way,” said Samantha Conley, a teacher.

“We found out that plants can improve a person’s mental health. So, we decided to incorporate our positive messages with plants,” said Nour El-Moussawi, a co-collaborator, Rooted in Joy, “Our main goal is to donate all our proceeds to our school’s autism program.”

The event runs until 3 p.m. Friday.