Lighting the first sparks

“No matter your age, you don’t have to wait to turn your ideas into projects and make a difference in society,” believes Corinne Germain. “Entrepreneurship is an everyday affair; life is a succession of projects to be completed.” The young woman, who also won the Youth Recognition Award presented by the Secrétariat à la jeunesse of the Government of Quebec in 2019, proudly promotes students’ entrepreneurial initiatives with Découvreurs en Action , an entrepreneurial project incubator at the Centre de services scolaire associés.

School entrepreneurship does not necessarily have a profit motive. It feeds the beginnings of entrepreneurial culture. “Entrepreneurship week at school is a lever to give a taste for entrepreneurship and develop the entrepreneurial spirit,” she explains. The projects they manage to set up at school teach leadership, communication, teamwork, creativity, effort and initiative, self-confidence, all skills useful to the entrepreneur or intrapreneur of tomorrow.”

Carry out entrepreneurial projects

To address the issues of healthy eating habits and self-sufficiency, inspired students decided to plant vegetable gardens in classrooms, libraries and cafeterias. It quickly became a responsible and scientific project for schools in the region:Sowing to Share . They divided up the tasks: financial management, work schedules, system maintenance and urban communications, healthy eating habits, self-sufficiency and local consumption. Students consume their production and sell part of it to finance the next harvests. The Collège des Compagnons was even awarded a $25,000 scholarship by registering for the Impulsion 100 Degrees Cohort .

Inspiring the next generation in person

The three young people at the head of the high-performance sustainable alpine ski manufacturing company Ferréol , Étienne Boucher, Félix Lapointe and Jonathan Audet received four national awards at the 23rd Gala des Grands Prix Desjardins du Défi OSEntreprendre last June: first prize for Exploitation, Transformation and Production, the Grand Prix de l'entrepreneuriat jeunesse, the Prix coup de cœur Étudiant créateur d'entreprise and the one for Ingéniosité. “They are so busy, but so happy to be here to share their experience!” confides Christiane Néron. “They are true role models for young people. All the entrepreneurs who come to volunteer are proud to tell their story. They are so inspiring and generous, and the students are captivated and stimulated. They learn about sectors they did not know; they do not hesitate to ask questions. The exchange is really fruitful.”

Some speakers are happy to return to the schools where they grew up. "It's fun for young people to see that someone who studied at their school has gone into business." This is the case for the founder of Ambicio , Jean-Philippe Bonneau, who is happy to share his experience at Rochebelle high school. "And since he speaks several languages, it's a perfect match for the school's World and Passions program."

"My vehicle for getting my message across is entrepreneurship," says Mathieu Arcand, founder of Gamer Mentor . This is the second year that he has talked about self-confidence, in particular, but also about knowing yourself, respecting yourself and setting goals to move towards the person you want to become.

“There are entrepreneurs, very creative, who are a bit of an outlier. That’s my case. It took me years to discover it and listen to myself. Today, I want to inspire young people with my journey and show them that it’s possible. I love going to talk to them in person, feeling the vibe , being in action with them, inspiring them to believe in their passions. Dare to be who you are.”