Founded in 2012, Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur (POE) has become the hub of entrepreneurship for the Canadian military community. By engaging military, civilian, academic, and corporate collaborators, plus hundreds of volunteers, POE provides a continuum of training and support services needed for veterans and their families to start and grow successful businesses. As of Fall 2018, 449 have graduated from one of 23 seven-day business boot camps and started over 370 businesses; 2000 could-be entrepreneurs have explored second career options at one of 83 introductory one-day workshops; and hundreds more have taken advantage of easily accessible online support services and confidence boosting networking opportunities.
In 2016, POE launched the online business directory: www.buyveteran.ca. Its annual #buyveteran campaign draws the attention of 1.1 million Canadians providing them the opportunity to support veterans and their families year-round. The 2018 campaign launched on November 1.
A program of Prince’s Trust Canada and with support from generous sponsors, all of POE’s programs and services are offered free.