Women are the engine of every home but that have not been translated into the economy. Economic involvement of women is an important driver for innovation, job creation, and productivity growth. According to the 2014 Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SFGSME), only 15.7% of SMEs were owned by women, while 64.6% were owned by men. Women-owned enterprises also lag male-owned enterprises in business performance such as sales, profits, and employment.
However, the Government of Canada is determined to advance the first-ever Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, a $2-billion investment that seeks to double the number of women-owned businesses by 2025. On May 4, 2019, Minister Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion, joined MP Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Natural Resources, and MP Randy Boissonnault to announce the a $1.2 million investment in 13 women-led companies in the Edmonton Area through the Women Entrepreneurship Fund. The successful recipient each received up to $100,000 to help them innovate, grow, and access new markets.
Diversity Magazine’s Women Show, Ladies Corner caught up with Minister Mary Ng at the end of the event and she shared her optimism for the grants, “…they (women) submitted a plan for growth and with that plan for growth, we simply are giving them that additional boost such that they can do faster and they can accelerate that growth faster…”
A surprised owner of Wild Prairie Soap Company, one of the recipient of the grant and host of the event, told Diversity Magazine’s Ladies Corner Show, “It’s an opportunity for our company to grow in a way that we’ve not been able to do…”
An excited Erin Taylor, Commercial Manager of Solstice Canada Corp., one of the grant recipient that helps companies to understand, manage, and reduce their environmental impacts to operate in a sustainable way. She shared her reactions with Ladies Corner, “…It gives us the chance to really accelerate the growth that we see happening. We’ve been really working hard to open doors and new opportunities with indigenous communities and international…this grants gives us the funding to help build our internal capacity through training and strategic business support…it’s a great opportunity for us to be able to really focus on building the business and the infrastructure that we need to enter those new markets and enter into that international space to really enter new markets…”
