It’s no big secret that younger generations are choosing to chase the dream of opening their own enterprise over the cozy corner office that their predecessors once coveted. Whether it be a side hustle, a startup or a sole proprietorship, accessing the financing and resources you need when starting a business has proven to be a difficult hurdle—and even tougher if you're a young entrepreneur.

However, access to startup capital has improved since the turn of the millennium, with financial institutions and governments creating an abundance of programs to help new business owners overcome the traditional funding roadblocks. Out of the 51.3 percent of small and medium enterprises in Canada that requested funding between 2014-2016, over 82 percent gained approval for financing, according to Statistics Canada’s survey on financing and growth of small and medium enterprises.

Here are five of the ways that you could get funding for your small business as a young innovator.