Status of Women committee  I can't speak to what is actually happening in Quebec and what rates they are charging. The gap this fund fills is for those who will not be able to borrow from a traditional financial institution because they don't meet the security and credit score requirements. It absolutely provides an opportunity to entrepreneurs who cannot be funded elsewhere, and I think that's the goal.

Status of Women committee  We look at every business plan, provided that it's legal. Yes, we do. There are a few criteria. If a business is making $2 million, we cannot finance it because, theoretically, it would have the revenue to invest in its own business. Legal businesses we can certainly look at.

Status of Women committee  Our prime plus 4% is the rate for an unsecured loan for a start-up business.

Status of Women committee  Thank you for the question. Actually, when the fund was disbursed, Quebec got its own women entrepreneurship portion of the funding. We don't disburse in Quebec because there is a specialized fund in that province for its use.

Status of Women committee  When we established our fund and were creating the processes and procedures, we wanted to make them as flexible as possible, keeping in mind that there is a need to have some due diligence in the process. There has to be a viable and feasible business idea behind it. At the same time, as I mentioned earlier, we don't require security on a loan.

Status of Women committee  Yes, we work with a fund. Of course, we charge interest on the loans. What we're looking to do is to continue to turn those funds over. What is paid out is then repaid, and the interest on the loans is then helping the operations for the work that we do to get those out the door.

Status of Women committee  Credit scores have long been used as a barometer of the creditworthiness of an entrepreneur, but so often the credit score is the result of an incident. It could be a breakdown in a relationship or a period of poor health or something like that. While we look at the credit score, it's not the final arbiter of a lending decision for us.

Status of Women committee  Yes. We are absolutely working to create awareness of this program, and we are working with financial institutions to have them share with clients they can't support that we exist. We've been in the market for just over a year. We're getting the traction—we need more traction—but we're reaching out to entrepreneurs.

Status of Women committee  It's up to. That's the maximum, depending on the loan type, but we're very flexible. We look at the entrepreneur. If they need interest-only payments for a portion of the time or if they have a challenging month, we look at making some adjustments on that front. We're really trying to—

Status of Women committee  Great. Thank you.

Status of Women committee  Is it the access to capital—I'm sorry—or the child care? I'm just confirming the question.

Status of Women committee  Yes, absolutely. It is an interesting aspect for women entrepreneurs because they are often sole proprietors and they need that access. We all know that COVID prevented them from running their businesses as they normally would because they had to take on the lion's share of family management, and women continue to do that.

Status of Women committee  Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak with you today. It's a pleasure to be here. The Women's Enterprise Organizations of Canada is an association of resource centres across the country that support women entrepreneurs. Our diverse membership directly impacts their growth and success by providing them with business supports including advising, training, mentorship and networking.