2SLGBTQI+ entrepreneurs are a core part of Canada's economy, with over 100,000 2SLGBTQI+-owned and -operated businesses in Canada employing over 435,000 Canadians and generating over $22 billion in economic activity. Yet, these entrepreneurs continue to face systemic barriers in starting and growing their businesses. To address these challenges and build a more inclusive economy, the federal government created Canada's first-ever 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Program.
Today, the Honourable Rechie Valdez, Minister of Small Business, the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, and Darrell Schuurman, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Canada's 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC), announced the organizations selected to operate the 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Program's Knowledge Hub and to deliver the program's Ecosystem Fund.
The $8 million Ecosystem Fund supports non-profit ecosystem organizations serving 2SLGBTQI+ entrepreneurs. The fund will help recipient organizations offer programs and resources to support these entrepreneurs, raise awareness of the challenges they face to improve support and services, and cultivate a more cohesive network of 2SLGBTQI+ entrepreneurs and ecosystem organizations.
The CGLCC has selected the first 17 organizations to deliver the Ecosystem Fund across Canada:
- 2 Spirits in Motion Society (national)
- Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services, in partnership with UPlift Black (Ontario)
- Alberta LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce (Alberta)
- Banff Pride Society, in partnership with Bow Valley Chamber of Commerce (Alberta)
- Chroma NB, in partnership with Envision Saint John and Fusion Saint John (New Brunswick)
- Comité FrancoQueer de l'Ouest, in partnership with Société de développement économique de la Colombie-Britannique, Parallèle Alberta, Chambre de commerce LGBT du Québec, and Les Chevronné.e.s. (Western Canada)
- Community Futures British Columbia, in partnership with myCEO (British Columbia)
- Evol, in partnership with Fondation Émergence (Quebec)
- FrancoQueer, in partnership with Impact ON, and Fédération des aînés et des retraités francophones de l'Ontario (Ontario)
- Les Chevronné.e.s (Quebec)
- Pictou County Partnership, in partnership with Pictou County Pride (Nova Scotia)
- QueerTech (national)
- SASKQUEER Entrepreneurs + Professionals (Saskatchewan)
- Social Entrepreneurship Enclave (Manitoba)
- Sovereign Seeds (national)
- Spindle Films Foundation (national)
- The Old School House Arts Centre, in partnership with Creative Coast BC, 4VI, and the Aunty Collective (British Columbia)
The organization selected to operate the Knowledge Hub is the Fyrefly Institute for Gender and Sexual Diversity, in partnership with the eHUB Entrepreneurship Centre, at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. The Fyrefly Institute will receive $3 million to build a national research network focused on collecting data to create a clearer picture of the entrepreneurship landscape for the 2SLGBTQI+ community, and on developing best practices and tools to benefit 2SLGBTQI+ entrepreneurs.
Building a more inclusive economy means building a stronger economy. The 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Program builds on the federal government's inclusive entrepreneurship investments that already include targeted entrepreneurship programs for women, Black, youth and Indigenous business owners. Making sure that people from all backgrounds have the opportunity to pursue entrepreneurship is essential to building a competitive economy that will create good, middle-class jobs for Canadians across the country.
