Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur promotes buying from a Veteran this holiday season

Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur is urging Canadians to buy from a veteran. 

Earlier this month, the organization held its annual Buy Veteran campaign during Remembrance Week. The campaign encourages Canadians to support veteran-owned businesses and their families by choosing to buy from them. The organization wants Canadians to shop from them yearlong. 

“Although our Buy Veteran campaign occurs during Remembrance Week, we encourage individuals and organizations to support veteran-owned businesses year-round. When you buy from one of these businesses, you’re not only receiving a great product or service. You’re supporting a veteran in their new life mission,” said Sharon Broughton, CEO of Prince’s Trust Canada. 

The campaign was launched across all media platforms, including radio, television channels, and social media with the hashtag #BuyVeteranCA. 

“We host the Buy Veteran campaign every year. One week a year, we put the programs aside and speak to Canadians. We talk about the great work that veterans are doing after service, sometimes even during service, to start their own businesses and give Canadians the choice to buy veteran,” said Kathleen Kilgour, POE Senior Program Manager. 

The organization hosts programs and workshops across the country to help the transition from service to the business sector be as smooth as possible. From one-hour information sessions to intensive seven-day boot camps, Operation Entrepreneur aims to help businesses, and the veterans behind them, flourish. 

Kilgour, explained, “We’ve been around since 2012 and become the hub of Canadian entrepreneurship for our military and veteran communities. Entrepreneurship is a big undertaking and not one to be taken lightly, and certainly not one to be entered into alone. 

“So we are there to help and also to connect veterans with people in their own community to start growing their personal and professional network.”

The Prince’s Trust Canada launched Operation Entrepreneur (POE), to provide a continuum of support and training services to veterans and serving members looking to start their own businesses. 

A previous veteran attendee of a POE program stated that the workshop was an “excellent foundation, pointing me in the right direction with networking, resources, and planning.”

Kilgour noted, “a wonderful way to support veterans and their families is choosing to buy from veteran-owned businesses this holiday season. There are ones in your community and ones available online. There are a really unique range of businesses.” 

Visit www.buyveteran.ca to find a list of local and online veteran-owned businesses to support this season.