Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My name is Natasha Morano, and I am an entrepreneur. I am honoured to be here today representing Startup Canada as the corporate and government affairs director.
Since 2012, Startup Canada’s programs have been a gateway to every stage of the business cycle, from ideation to inception to growth.
Startup Canada enables connections, education, promotion and advocacy. We are accessible to 3.5 million entrepreneurs across the country with 30 active communities from coast to coast to coast. To tell the story of every entrepreneur in five minutes is of course an impossibility. The differences amongst them are countless. What ties them together is that each takes the reins of their own financial destiny. Many may have started through passion. Many more have been thrust into entrepreneurship through necessity, and many, unfortunately, have been left behind.
Entrepreneurs are the pistons of the engine that creates jobs, growth, and resilience. They are an essential piece of our country’s economic recovery, and they rely on trusted authorities, experts and qualified enablers of simplification.
The infusion of funds that budget 2021 offers will provide equitable access to support. It is an enormous step in reinvigorating an inclusive economy. Startup Canada is looking forward to the road ahead and the role that we can play in paving it. It is our goal to help ensure that there is no redundancy in the rollout of these programs and that the support offered in budget 2021 gets into the hands of the entrepreneurs who so desperately need it in a quick and efficient manner.
Entrepreneurs are the critical pistons in our nation’s economy and in our recovery efforts through this pandemic, and they need a reliable ignition system. They need access to trusted organizations that know their pain points and develop programs in response to their needs. The Government of Canada should look to partner with like-minded organizations that are equally charged by powering up entrepreneurs and that understand their needs.
The government’s investment of over $100 million to support inclusive entrepreneurial growth is designed to provide new funding for national organizations to lift up diverse entrepreneurs and small businesses across the country through financing, mentorship and advisory services. This design is an absolute mirror of Startup Canada's own mandate, so it is welcomed.
The pandemic has displaced many Canadians and numerous industries. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business estimates that 239,000 businesses are at risk of closing because of the pandemic. This situation must be curbed. COVID-19 has claimed a disproportionate number of jobs held by women. Women account for 37% of self-employed Canadians. Budget 2021 proposes to provide up to $146.9 million to strengthen the women entrepreneurship strategy. This is a good first step in supporting women entrepreneurs, but there needs to be more.
There is an urgency among entrepreneurs to digitize quickly, to move from storefront to e-commerce, from neighbourhood-based to cross-country, and from operating locally to exporting products and services abroad. The government's commitment to help entrepreneurs magnify the scope of their markets and increase the supply of well-paying jobs is welcomed.
Startup Canada is pleased to see that the government recognizes the importance of investing in programs that support businesses and entrepreneurs to be globally competitive. However, businesses start at different rates with different ultimate goals. There needs to be more early-stage support for entrepreneurs who are not globally minded but who have become entrepreneurs out of necessity and are not the “unicorns” of tomorrow. They require simple, easy-to-use tools and advisory support as they try to make a living for their family.
Startup Canada looks to simplify the process for the Government of Canada to roll out programs while also ensuring that entrepreneurs have limited barriers to program entry. We need to make the journey of being an entrepreneur much easier. We need to consolidate and shepherd entrepreneurs through all of the available support that exists across the Canadian ecosystem from incubators to accelerators to public and private sector support and beyond.
Entrepreneurs, more than ever, do not have the time to research what is available to them, particularly as these supports are revised or changed daily. Let’s save them the time so that they can work on their businesses and support the Canadian economy as a whole.
Everything budget 2021 sets out to do as pertains to support for entrepreneurs is what we do on a daily basis. There is no better time to invest in Canada’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. While there are numerous opportunities for entrepreneurs in budget 2021, there remains a gap in support for early-stage entrepreneurs who have that entrepreneurial spirit running through their veins. There is no safety net to capture them if they fall. These are the entrepreneurs who remain left behind and who require support. They are asking for the foundational support to ensure they are equipped with sound advice and the advisory assistance they need to start their businesses on solid ground and consequently create jobs.
Mr. Chair, Startup Canada is grateful for the opportunity to work with the government to throttle the economy fuelled by budget 2021.
Thank you.