Prime Highlights
- Canada will invest $173.7 million over five years to strengthen funding, training, and support for women entrepreneurs.
- The package includes $59 million for microloans and $100 million to expand mentorship and business growth programs.
Key Facts
- The Women Entrepreneurship Strategy has supported more than 500,000 entrepreneurs since 2018.
- The initiative is part of a broader federal entrepreneurship framework valued at over $7 billion.
Background
The Canadian federal government will put $173.7 million into its Women Entrepreneurship Strategy over the next five years, extending a programme that has reached more than 500,000 women business owners since it launched in 2018.
Rechie Valdez, Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State for Small Business and Tourism, announced the funding, saying women entrepreneurs are central to building a stronger Canadian economy and that the investment ensures more women get the tools they need to start and grow businesses.
The funding splits across three main streams. The Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund receives $59 million to keep delivering microloans of up to $50,000 through not-for-profit partner organisations. The programme has already issued more than 1,600 loans nationwide and is expected to widen its reach under the renewed package.
A further $100 million goes to the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy Ecosystem Fund, which backs not-for-profit groups running business training, mentorship and advisory services for women looking to start, scale or break into new markets.
The Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub picks up $7 million to maintain its national research network, which connects more than 250 partners across 10 regional hubs.
The hub produces data and best practices used to shape policy and improve programme delivery. The remaining funds cover operating costs.
The government said women entrepreneurs continue to face barriers including limited access to capital, thin mentorship networks and gaps in data, and that closing those gaps is necessary to unlock broader economic growth.
The renewed strategy sits within a wider federal envelope valued at more than $7 billion and runs alongside parallel programmes targeting Black entrepreneurs and 2SLGBTQI+ business owners.
