$100,000 is up for grabs for small and medium sized businesses in Canada.

The Challenge Contest, sponsored by Telus, will award a $100,000 business grant to the SMB that wins the competition.

The application process is readily accessible, short, and simple. The deadline: July 6th 2011.

Applying

The contest application requires the business to describe the biggest challenge that it faces today, and is divided into four stages:

•  Tell us about yourself: 
        General information about your business
• Describe your challenge:
         An entry of less than 200 words describing the challenge your business faces
•  How would receiving a $100,000 business grant help you overcome your challenge?
         An entry of less than 200 words describing the solution
•  What results do you expect to achieve?
         An entry of less than 200 words outlining what you hope to achieve

Eligibility

The Challenge Contest invites application from SMBs across Canada outside of Quebec, as long as certain criteria are met:

• Applicants must be a resident of Canada (excluding Quebec)
• Applicants must have reached the age of majority in their province
• The business must be located in Canada
• The business must have fewer than 150 employees

Judging Criteria

Any application that is deemed valid has a chance to win. Every submission will be reviewed and considered by a panel of judges, who will weigh their decisions based on:

• The description of the challenge (20%)
• The suggested solution (60%)
• The expected results (20%)

The panel of judges consists of:

• Mia Pearson: co-founder of North Strategic
• Stuart MacDonald: independent business advisor and investor
• Mark Healy: partner at Satov Consultants
• Noel Husman: editorial manager of the Globe and Mail's Custom Content Group
• Jim Senko: SMB marketing leader, Telus

The application can be accessed on the Globe and Mail - Report on Business website. Be sure to read over the Rules and Regulations for more details on eligibility, judging criteria, submission rules, and general contest information.

If you enjoyed this article, be sure to visit CanadaOne's article knowledge base for more informative articles.