Published 5:30 am Monday, August 10, 2026
Victoria’s Ship Point just got a little more vibrant with a pop-up market where young entrepreneurs display their products.
Kidovate Youth Entrepreneurship, a free initiative by the University of Victoria’s Gustavson School of Business, looks to help youth on Vancouver Island learn how to create value through exploring entrepreneurial thinking.
The public is invited to say hello to the young entrepreneurs and shop local every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this summer from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
Kids who visit the market will receive a sticker, then they can pick up a colouring sheet that serves as a scavenger hunt for the animals and plants studied by local researchers displayed on the container.
Two UVic professors of entrepreneurship, Brock and Claudia Smith, initiated Kidovate in 2019, and since then, it has expanded significantly.
When young students who are enthusiastic about entrepreneurship sign up for the program, they receive a graphic novel workbook that gives them support for thinking through major business decisions they need to make to put a product together. They can be paired with a university business student for support.
They are eventually given the chance to showcase their products at pop-up markets, where they can sell their products, connect with customers and learn social skills.
Last year, about 230 youth vendors filled up all three levels of the centre, Claudia said. This year, they collaborated with the City of Victoria and used the Ship Point site to sell their products.
She added that teaching younger students how to sharpen their entrepreneurial skills is extremely important now.
“We have 50 per cent fewer entrepreneurial businesses starting today than 20 years ago, and we know that small business is the economic engine for Canada,” she said.
Therefore, she believes it’s important to encourage young students to have the experience that helps them continue on with entrepreneurship.
“I’ve done research that has confirmed that to be the case, that if we want young people to have an entrepreneurial self, so we carry many selves within ourselves, these are possible selves of the people we might be.”
The community has been supporting the young entrepreneurs and purchasing their goods. The professor said that when young entrepreneurs bring their own ideas into creating products, they see issues differently and find better solutions.
“What we really appreciate is that entrepreneurship is about being creative and solving problems in an environment of uncertainty and ambiguity, and that’s what we see our young people doing. They bring a real sense of creativity,” she added.
Nevada, a student going into grade 11, makes pins, homemade pendants, key chains, stickers, and printed ladybug t-shirts to sell at the pop-up market.
Sid Sprinkling sells charms, stickers, and birthday cards at the market, and has been an entrepreneur for two years now.
“I’m not a very social person, but after I started doing business, I’ve gotten better at socializing and figuring out what the customers like,” he said.
