Ottawa is providing $10 million in funding for the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Small Business Minister Diane Ablonczy announced Wednesday.
The CYBF is a charity that invests in young entrepreneurs and helps provide finances for start-up businesses.
Harper and Ablonczy met with the entrepreneurs at a hotel in downtown Toronto.
"The success of these young people and many more would not have been possible for the good work of the Canadian Youth Business Foundation," Harper told reporters.
He said the investment will come out of the government's Economic Action Plan.
"Our investment is giving Canada's future business leaders the support they need today and to create the jobs of tomorrow," Harper said.
Harper also said the action plan was not simply about creating and protecting jobs during the global recession.
"It's also about laying the foundations for Canada's long-term prosperity," Harper said.
Ablonczy said the support will help launch nearly 500 new businesses.
"It will also create new jobs and new economic growth," she said.
Earlier in the day, the prime minister visited a tortilla shop in Toronto run by two young entrepreneurs.
Harper was given green salsa as a gift and he said that he loves hot sauce.
