Today, the Honourable Rechie Valdez, Minister of Small Business, highlighted the accomplishments of Canada's first-ever Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES). The Minister made her remarks at an event hosted by the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub to release the preliminary findings of its State of Women's Entrepreneurship in Canada 2025 report.
WES was launched in 2018 to help remove the systemic barriers women entrepreneurs face and advance women's economic empowerment. WES represents nearly $7 billion in investments and commitments across 20 government departments, agencies and Crown corporations focused on strengthening the women's entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Since its launch, WES has helped over 400,000 women access the financing, networks and mentorship they need to succeed. WES accomplishments include the following:
- A stronger entrepreneurship ecosystem - Women entrepreneurs have accessed federal ecosystem programs and events more than 181,100 times.
- Better access to financing - Federal programs have provided over 25,600 loans to diverse women entrepreneurs.
- Improved knowledge and data - The Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub has co-sponsored over 4,800 events attended by more than 160,000 participants.
The Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub, with federal government support, shares its expertise nationwide to help service providers, academics, government and industry better support women entrepreneurs.
Since 2015, the federal government has uplifted women and has made historic investments to support women in all aspects of their lives, ultimately reducing barriers to entering the workforce. This includes:
- the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy
- $10-a-day child care, so that women never again have to decide between caring for their children and going back to work
- paid parental leave, so that women have more support during one of the most life-changing periods of their lives
- pay equity legislation, which is helping close the gender wage gap and ensuring that the work women are doing is being valued and compensated fairly
