Breaking Barriers and Building Futures: Women Entrepreneurs as Catalysts for Sustainable Growth

Reducing barriers to entrepreneurship and increasing the number of Canadian entrepreneurs can provide benefits to the Canadian economy. Entrepreneurs drive job creation, innovation, and economic growth and can play a crucial role in advancing social development and sustainability. Small and medium enterprises comprise nearly all employing businesses in Canada and employ a large proportion of the private-sector labour force.  

In addition to contributing to GDP, there is growing recognition of the impact that women entrepreneurs can have on social and environmental outcomes, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals or Canada’s net-zero objectives, with women entrepreneurs being more likely to prioritize sustainability initiatives. Supporting women’s entrepreneurship in digital and sustainability-focused initiatives could yield high returns for the Canadian economy and society.

Despite constituting almost half of Canada’s workforce, women are underrepresented in Canadian entrepreneurship. Although there has been an increase in the number of women-owned businesses in recent years, a persistent gender gap in Canadian business ownership remains. Canada’s entrepreneurial gender gap has socio-economic consequences. Enabling more women to become entrepreneurs could yield significant increases in Canadian GDP, making women entrepreneurs critical to fostering Canada’s economic development.  

Common barriers to entrepreneurship for women stem from pervasive gender stereotypes, biases, and societal expectations. Entrepreneurship is often perceived as a man’s domain, and because of this, women entrepreneurs often experience pressure to suppress feminine traits or conform to masculine norms in order to be successful. Women also tend to have fewer networking opportunities with other entrepreneurs of the same gender and are more likely than men to experience challenges related to work-life balance. For women of colour, racial discrimination is also rampant.  

Limited access to capital is a significant hurdle for women entrepreneurs. Due to gender biases, women often encounter more skepticism from investors than men and tend to receive smaller bank loans. Women entrepreneurs also often struggle with low self-confidence and imposter syndrome and tend to under-evaluate the quality of their own skills, products, and services, particularly in industries dominated by men. These tendencies can significantly impact business decisions and interactions with business stakeholders, such as investors and clients.  

While many support programs for women entrepreneurs exist, they tend to focus on mentorship and frequently fail to address the financial needs of women entrepreneurs. Many women entrepreneurs report feeling over-mentored but underfunded. Programs often lack substantial financial support and inadequately assist women entrepreneurs in scaling their businesses. Programs that do offer financial support can impose restrictive eligibility criteria.

These multi-level challenges create substantial barriers for women entrepreneurs, hindering their growth and success. The obstacles are further compounded for women from equity-deserving groups, such as Black women entrepreneurs, who face intersecting gender and racial biases throughout the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Support for women entrepreneurs must consider not only gender but also other forms of identity, such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disability. Intersectional identities shape the experiences of women entrepreneurs and can compound challenges to starting and scaling their businesses. As an example, Black women entrepreneurs can experience race-based discrimination in addition to other barriers typically faced by women entrepreneurs. Adopting an intersectional approach is crucial for (a) understanding and addressing the unique challenges and barriers that women entrepreneurs face, and (b) creating opportunities for women from equity-deserving groups.

This report details six strategies that can be used to boost women’s participation in entrepreneurship and to achieve a more diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial landscape:

1. Improve access to capital through alternative financing mechanisms, tax incentives for women-led businesses, and expanded angel investor presence in women-focused entrepreneurial spaces.
2. Ensure support programs are targeted and flexible, and address intersectional barriers.
3. Foster networking and mentorship opportunities specifically for women.
4. Combat gender stereotypes through education and media campaigns.
5. Help women develop essential business skills, like digital literacy, marketing, sales, and financial management.
6. Meet childcare needs by implementing maternity leave for entrepreneurs and subsidizing daycare.

This report also outlines key priorities related to skills training for women entrepreneurs, as identified by interviewees. The interviewees’ key priorities in each of several categories included leveraging digital tools, developing marketing skills, developing general business administrative skills, and maintaining mental health and work-life balance.