Businesses and individuals in Ontario will soon be allowed to raise money and sell stakes in their businesses through crowd-funding.

Ontario is one of five provinces that will give the thumbs up to  people – to use the money raising technique.

It will happen when the Ontario Securities regulator brings in a new policy – in January.

Websites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter have made it easier for  entrepreneurs in the U.S. – to raise money from large numbers of people at a time.

But those crowd-funding platforms provide no equity in the featured product – while the new rules smooth the way for Canadian businesses to use crowd funding – to sell equity.