From showcasing entrepreneurs to helping people register their businesses or apply for funding and grants, Black Business Edmonton teaches entrepreneurs how to show up confidently in spaces where they’ve historically been excluded.
People sometimes refer to the pandemic period as a time when new ideas were born. This is what happened to Ibukun Orefuja when he realized there was an absence of a cohesive Black business community in Alberta and decided to do something about it. When Orefuja created Black Business Edmonton (BBE) in January 2023, he wasn’t planning to start a movement; he simply wanted to bring Black-owned businesses together. Yet for Orefuja, this work has always been personal. He tells a story of his childhood in Nigeria, riding in the car with his father. Whenever they came across potholes, his dad would pull over, hand him and his siblings shovels, and make them fill the potholes themselves. “My dad didn’t call it philanthropy,” he says, adding that they served because it was the right thing to do.
A movement born from community gaps
Orefuja, a tech entrepreneur by background, had spent years building IT infrastructure to serve underserved communities. But when he went searching for a business network tailored to Black entrepreneurs in Alberta, there was none. There was no hub, no ecosystem, he says. “I was just looking for a space that brought people together.” What began as a personal passion rooted in community service and inspired by the philanthropic legacy of his late father quickly became a rallying point for Black entrepreneurs in the province.
A 2021 study on inclusive entrepreneurship by the African Canadian Senate Group found that 76% of Black entrepreneurs surveyed said their race makes it harder to succeed as an entrepreneur. While lack of access to capital ranked highest among their barriers, the absence of strong networks and support followed closely. More than half, 55%, reported that they were unsure where to seek advice or support when facing challenges.
Systemic barriers to capital, networks, and mentorship have long limited the growth of Black-owned businesses in Edmonton.
Alberta reflects a similar picture. According to the 2011 Small Business, Big Impact report, about 96% of businesses in Alberta are small businesses. They employ more than a third of all private-sector workers and contribute nearly 30% of Alberta’s gross domestic product – higher than the national average. However, in Edmonton, systemic barriers to capital, networks, and mentorship have long limited the growth of Black-owned businesses.
Recognizing this gap, Orefuja launched the Black Business Edmonton social media page in January 2023. The idea was simple: showcase and promote local Black-owned businesses. But the response was overwhelming. By the end of the year, BBE had promoted more than 80 Black-owned businesses, hosted networking events, and built a website with strong SEO (search engine optimization) to support business visibility. What had started as a grassroots initiative was rapidly becoming a vital piece of Edmonton’s economic fabric, receiving many accolades from members of the Black community. One glowing Google review reflects the sentiments of many others: “BBE has been a great support to Black-owned businesses across Edmonton. Through their well-organized events, and limitless opportunities to network, it has been a great opportunity to have such an organization in the community.”
Redefining philanthropy: From charity to community investment
BBE doesn’t follow a traditional philanthropic model. Instead of giving handouts, it builds ladders, through visibility, mentorship, and business education. BBE centres on opportunity creation, platform access, and capacity building. It’s philanthropy that’s lived through community: collective support, mentorship, shared visibility, and resource-sharing.
That spirit of service lives in BBE’s events, posts, and partnership. It’s a form of giving that places trust and power directly in the hands of the community. From spotlighting entrepreneurs on the website to helping people register their businesses or guiding them to apply for business funding and grant opportunities, BBE teaches Black entrepreneurs how to show up confidently in spaces where they’ve historically been excluded.
Building economic justice from the ground up
At the heart of BBE’s mission is economic justice – the idea that everyone should have the opportunity to thrive in business, regardless of their background. Its impact is already evident: more than 225 businesses are formally registered with BBE, and more than 500 are engaged through events, fairs, and online channels. BBE has partnered with the Business Development Bank of Canada, the Edmonton Regional Innovation Network, Business Link, and Futurpreneur to connect Black entrepreneurs to funding and mentorship.
Notably, Futurpreneur’s Black Entrepreneur Startup Program, launched in 2021, was designed to provide tailored financing and mentorship for young Black entrepreneurs across Canada. By connecting its members with initiatives such as this, BBE contributes to providing Black-owned businesses in Edmonton with the resources, expertise, and networks necessary for sustainable growth and success.
In 2024, BBE hosted Alberta’s first Black business trade fair, drawing more than 1,500 attendees and 90 exhibitors. The fair didn’t just provide visibility; it generated real revenue, with several vendors selling out their products and others establishing new business partnerships on the spot. One beneficiary remarked in a review, “I am a firsthand beneficiary of black business Edmonton’s services. The publicity, mentions, direction and even recommendations for awesome events have projected my business tremendously. I have gained many followers on Instagram, and I have had more people contacting me for my products and services as a fashion designer. I am so grateful for this. Thank you and keep up the good work.”
BBE’s partnership with Explore Edmonton for KDays, one of Alberta’s largest annual festivals, provided similar results. With 45 vendors featured and more than 120 registered, Black-owned businesses were given centre stage in an event that previously hadn’t showcased them. For Orefuja, it wasn’t just about sales but about showing up in spaces where Black entrepreneurs have historically been left out.
Challenging the system, one collaboration at a time
In 2024, Orefuja became a member of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce after discovering that of 300 listed businesses, only one was Black owned. That revelation fuelled his mission further. Through persistent engagement with the Chamber, BBE facilitated complimentary access for Black businesses to attend the Chamber of Commerce’s monthly “meet and greet” events, thereby increasing their visibility and connecting them with valuable Chamber resources.
“Partnerships like this matter,” Orefuja says. They’re not just about access; they’re about representation, inclusion, and education. Through these collaborations, BBE now helps Black entrepreneurs learn how to navigate government procurement processes, apply for grants, and advocate for policy change. Orefuja was also invited to sit on the Chamber of Commerce’s policy committee, giving BBE a formal seat at the table for shaping Edmonton’s economic future.
Resilience in the face of barriers
While Western Canada contributes nearly 38% of Canada’s real gross domestic product and is home to 427,000 active small and medium-size enterprises, according to a Western Economic Diversification Canada report, BBE’s growth hasn’t come without challenges. Funding remains a persistent obstacle. Notwithstanding the organization’s broad impact, many grant applications have been denied as a result of rigid eligibility criteria or processes that don’t reflect the lived realities of Black-led non-profits.
The way grants are structured often feels disconnected from how grassroots organizations operate. It’s repetitive, time-consuming, and doesn’t always value cultural context.
There’s still a gap in understanding, Orefuja says. The way grants are structured often feels disconnected from how grassroots organizations operate. It’s repetitive, time-consuming, and doesn’t always value cultural context, he adds.
Still, BBE has secured support from the federal government through the Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative and the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Program and has leaned into sponsorships, media partnerships, and community fundraising to sustain its programs. In many ways, BBE’s resilience is part of its message: systemic barriers are real, but so is the power of community-led innovation.
What’s next: Scaling impact
Looking ahead, Orefuja envisions a thriving, interconnected network of Black businesses that not only survive but lead. Plans are underway for a BBE mobile app, a job opportunity portal, a YouTube series that highlights the stories of Black entrepreneurs in Alberta, and a monthly business scale-up program, in partnership with the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). He hopes to one day produce a Netflix documentary on Edmonton’s Black business renaissance.
This summer, BBE hosted its second trade fair, featuring even more vendors and collaborating with institutions like the City of Edmonton, the Royal Bank of Canada, TELUS, and BDC.
In the long term, Orefuja dreams of making Edmonton a city where the economic success of Black businesses is the norm, not the exception. “We want to make Edmonton the New York of the Prairies,” he says. “A place where business thrives and where everyone sees themselves in that success.”
