The Canadian Taskforce for Women’s Business Growth

An economic imperative for Canada.

Canadian women business owners and self-employed workers represent an untapped source of economic opportunity. In 2007, women retained ownership in 47% of Canada’s 1.6 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and majority female ownership of 16% of Canadian SMEs. Majority women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises represented over $117 billion per annum of economic activity in Canada.

“A 20 percent increase in total revenues among majority female-owned enterprises will contribute an additional $2 billion per annum to the Canadian economy.”

In addition, between 1999 and 2009, the number of self-employed females increased by 13 percent compared with 10 percent for men. Today, over 900,000 of the 2.6 million self-employed workers in Canada are women.4 This represents a second significant pool of enterprising women.

In 2010, the Taskforce for Women’s Business Growth initiated a series of roundtables to identify policies and programs to enable female business owners and self-employed workers to contribute further to the Canadian economy. Participants included over 200 prominent women business owners and self-employed workers, industry association representatives, academics and other thought leaders. This report captures action strategies to ensure that Canada realizes the full economic potential of women’s entrepreneurship.

Governments at all levels can do more to support women entrepreneurs. Although existing women-focused small business programs and policies are successful, many programs are limited to geographic regions or emphasize start-up rather than growth. Economic development can be strengthened through training, education, and policy change to better support growth oriented women business owners. For example, the needs of women are not recognized in most science, technology and innovation policy and program frameworks. The action strategies recognize the role of government in strengthening business owners’ skills and competencies, facilitating knowledge transfer and supporting women in non-traditional fields and sectors. These priorities will contribute to capacity building across sectors, within the company, and among all Canadian business owners and improve federal program efficiencies and impacts.

For information about the Taskforce for Women’s Business Growth visit: http://www.telfer.uOttawa.ca/womensenterprise.

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