Hon. Jane Cordy: Welcome, minister.

My question relates to your responsibilities as Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. In 2020 the Prime Minister announced funding for the first-ever Black Entrepreneurship Program, committing $93 million in federal money along with another $127 million from major Canadian financial institutions over a four-year period. In your Departmental Plan, it states that the agency will deliver key funding under the Black Entrepreneurship Program.

Minister, can you share with us how much money has been delivered to date and the number of Black entrepreneurs in Atlantic Canada who have received funds through this program?

Also, minister, the fund committed $6.5 million to creating the Black Entrepreneurs Knowledge Hub, which is being led by Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business and the Dream Legacy Foundation. Minister, is the Knowledge Hub up and running, and if not, when will it be? Also, when the Knowledge Hub is collecting data on Black entrepreneurship in Canada, how will it report its findings to the public?

Thank you.