Why it’s a great time for Canadian women to start small businesses

minute read

For Canadian women with creative ideas or the drive to pave their own path, it’s an ideal time to start small businesses.

Women business ownership in Canada is on the rise. According to the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub, 20% of businesses in Canada are majority women-owned. In addition, majority women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises employ around one million people.

We want to encourage more Canadian women to leap into entrepreneurship. While entrepreneurship is on the rise with women, they still don’t start as many businesses as men. Let’s dig into some reasons why now is a great time for Canadian women to start small businesses.

Entrepreneurship in Canada by the numbers

Business types

Women-owned companies are more concentrated in the service sector, while men-owned businesses are more commonly in the industrial sector.

Motivations

The top reasons Canadian women start businesses that are making a difference in the world and building wealth.

A chance to lean into your values

For women, starting a small business can be a powerful way to live one’s values and create positive change. Many women in Canada — 56.5% to be exact — start businesses because they want to make a difference.

Canada’s ideal for entrepreneurs

U.S. News and World Report names Canada the fourth best country in the world and the 15th-best country in which to do business.

Compared to other countries in the G-7, Canada has a low tax rate on new business investments, making it a very tax-competitive country. This low-tax environment has enabled many Canadian businesses to succeed. The country continues to try to attract new entrepreneurs.

Canada invests in woman entrepreneurs

Canada's Women Entrepreneurship Strategy helps women-owned businesses access the financing, talent, networks, and expertise they need to start up, scale, and reach new markets.

The government also created the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub to provide resources for women entrepreneurs, such as best practices and relevant activities and events. The hub also provides access to a database of organizations that support women entrepreneurs, and it currently connects more than 300 organizations.

New opportunities abound

Nearly 12% of Canadian businesses operate in e-commerce. Online businesses offer women the opportunity to start companies with low overhead costs. At the same time, recent advances in artificial intelligence, such as automation and personalized marketing, can help women business owners streamline operations and improve customer outreach.

Customers are more accessible than ever

With 5.66 billion social media users across the world, small businesses can cast a wider net than ever before. With social media, small businesses have a chance to appeal to consumers every time they log on. With an active presence, entrepreneurs can keep their products and services top of mind for when it’s time for their followers to make a purchase.

Many small businesses have built tight communities of current and future customers. And, if you’re in the business of selling products, those communities can expand much further than your local neighbourhood.

All in all, social media is a chance to get brand recognition, whether you’re on a bare-bones budget or have some funds to funnel into your online brand.

Boosting women’s economic participation benefits everyone

Women, unfortunately, still face gender bias and systemic discrimination, which can serve as barriers to receiving finances, services, and support when launching or growing a business. Those barriers can be even more significant for women of colour, Indigenous women, women with disabilities, and those in the LGBTQ2S+ community. Despite these challenges, women have played a key role in developing new businesses, generating new jobs, and creating innovation.

Women undoubtedly deserve equitable treatment in Canada’s entrepreneurial environment. And everyone stands to benefit.